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Billionaire and activist investor Nelson Peltz is said to be looking to engineer a shakeup at Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL), including the removal of CEO Fabrizio Freda.
Peltz appears to be evaluating pursuing a shareholder campaign to remove Freda, according to a NY Post report on Sunday, which cited people familiar. Peltz may also be looking ultimately for an eventual sale of the $72 billion cosmetics giant.
It wasn’t immediately known if Peltz had acquired shares in Estee Lauder (EL), according to the NY Post report. Peltz declined to comment when reached by the publication.
French luxury company LVMH (OTCPK:LVMHF) has signaled in the past to the company’s controlling Lauder family it would be interested in buying Estee Lauder (EL) if it was ever for sale, the NY Post said, citing people familiar with the talks.
The possible Peltz activist campaign comes after Estee Lauder (EL) shares plunged 17% on Wednesday after the cosmetics company slashed its full-year guidance. The guidance cut was due in a large part to weakness in the Asia travel market.
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