A PepsiCo boardroom showdown may soon explode, The Post has learned.
The drama inside the soft drink and snack giant’s boardroom revolves around a faction that wants to closely examine whether to split the company’s snack and beverage divisions — a move that CEO Indra Nooyi is firmly against, a source close to the situation said.
That is the main reason PepsiCo last week announced that its board and management team were extending their review of the business plan for 2012 and beyond, and would not update investors until next year, the source added.
“I hear there is going to be a shake-up,” the source said.
Another source close to the situation said, “They might still split, despite Indra saying they will not do so.”
Meanwhile, one investment banker told dealReporter that one Pepsico breakup scenario would involve Nooyi running the Purchase, NY, company’s international business while “internal candidates” run its US beverage and snack operations.
PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay snacks business includes brands ranging from Lay’s to Cracker Jack and Stacy’s Pita chips.
Nooyi, meanwhile, is close to announcing two major acquisitions, believed to be international, that will be big and interesting enough to boost the company’s flat stock, another source said.
A second source said PepsiCo has been actively seeking large international acquisitions, as well as trying to buy relatively healthy food businesses.
However, a source familiar with the company’s M&A plans said it was sticking to what it has said in earnings calls in that it is not planning to make any major acquisition after spending $12 billion in deals last year.
This boardroom standoff is happening as shareholder activist Nelson Peltz disclosed yesterday his Trian Fund Management had bought $150 million worth of PepsiCo shares as of Sept. 30.
Peltz was instrumental this year in persuading Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld, a former PepsiCo executive, to split her businesses.
PepsiCo shares yesterday rose 2.7 percent to $64.50, leaving them down 1.7 percent for the year.
Eight of the 12 members of the PepsiCo’s board predate Nooyi and have some independence from the charismatic leader, sources said.
Last week, The Post reported exclusively that members of the board were losing patience with Nooyi for not readying an heir apparent and for failing to retain the only PepsiCo executive with experience running a public company, Eric Foss, who is leaving next month.
A PepsiCo spokesman declined comment.