Activist Investor Third Point Takes New Stakes in NXP, PayPal

(Bloomberg) -- Third Point, the activist fund run by Dan Loeb, disclosed a new positions in NXP Semiconductors NV and PayPal Holdings Inc. during the second quarter.

The New York hedge fund said it held a 3.1 percent stake in NXP -- with a market value of $1.18 billion -- at the end of the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing. Third Point’s PayPal stake valued at $833 million represents 0.8 percent of that company.

Last month, Loeb ramped up pressure on Nestle SA by demanding a far more radical transformation than the world’s largest food company has so far embraced. Third Point first disclosed a $3.5 billion stake in Nestle in June 2017 and the shares have been essentially flat since. In a letter to the Swiss company, Loeb said it should sell its stake in cosmetics company L’Oreal SA and consider splitting into three units to spur growth.

Third Point also disclosed the following portfolio changes in its filing Friday in the U.S.:

• Added positions in companies including Visa Inc. and Campbell Soup Co.
• Increased its positions in Microsoft Corp., Marathon Petroleum Corp. and United Technologies Corp.
• Sold down positions in BlackRock Inc., Worldpay Inc. and Facebook Inc.
• Exited stakes in Alphabet Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange Inc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha, Matthew Monks

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