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Activist plots snack attack on Oreo maker: source

Nelson Peltz is seriously weighing a proxy fight against snack food giant Mondelez International, as was first reported by nypost.com Thursday.

The activist investor, who owns a 2.3 percent stake in the maker of Oreos, Fig Newtons and Ritz crackers, is looking to pressure CEO Irene Rosenfeld to increase margins and, perhaps, explore selling the company’s coffee business, an industry source said.

Nelson PeltzReuters

Peltz, if he decides to make the move before the Jan. 21 deadline, would nominate himself and perhaps a few other candidates to the board, the source added.

“I think the majority of shareholders would want Peltz and a few of his directors to have seats on the board,” the source said.

Mondelez, split apart from Kraft in 2012, has seen its share rise 30.2 percent in the last year — outpacing the S&P 500’s 25.4 percent rise. Mondelez shares closed Thursday unchanged at $35.70 in heavy trading.

The looming proxy fight seems similar to Peltz’s battle with H.J. Heinz in 2006, when he won five seats on the board — and called on the company to cut costs and sell assets.

Heinz ultimately followed much of his advice. It sold for a high multiple last year to Warren Buffett and 3G Capital.

Mondelez head Rosenfeld has come under increasing pressure.

Three top shareholders, not including Peltz, were losing patience with the CEO after she fell short of the growth targets she set, The Post reported exclusively in November.

There has been a string of disappointing earnings reports since Rosenfeld split Mondelez from Kraft’s slower-growing grocery business a year ago.

Neither Peltz nor Mondelez returned calls.