Activist investor Jana Partners on Thursday disclosed an about 6.6 per cent stake in Mercury Systems and said it would push the defence technology firm to consider options for its business, including a potential sale.
Jana, which has built a reputation for working collaboratively and behind the scenes with target companies since Barry Rosenstein founded the firm two decades ago, said Mercury's shares were undervalued. The activist investor said that it plans to have talks with the company's management regarding the composition of the board and compensation practices.The company's shares, which have fallen over 40 per cent this year, rose 9 per cent in afternoon trading on news of Jana's stake, which was reported earlier on Thursday by Bloomberg News.
Mercury develops and manufactures computer hardware and software products for the aerospace and defence industry. The company had a market capitalisation of US$2.87 billion as of Wednesday's close.