Activist investment firm, Elliott Investment Management, has amassed a $5 billion stake in Honeywell International and is seeking board support to carve up the industrial giant.
Honeywell is one of the few remaining industrial conglomerates in the world that hasn’t yielded to investor pressure to break up the organisation.
Last week the investment firm sent a letter to Honeywell calling for a simplification of Honeywell’s conglomerate structure.
The letter points to an underperforming share price claiming the company can only realise its full potential by separating the aerospace and automation divisions.
By separating these segments of the company, Elliott said it would deliver share price gains between 51 and 75 per cent over the next two years.
In response to the letter, Honeywell said it welcomes shareholder feedback and looks forward to engaging with the firm.
Earlier this month Honeywell announced plans to spin-off its advanced materials business into an independent publicly traded company.
This will be completed late 2025 or early 2026.
Honeywell chair & CEO, Vimal Kapur, said the spinoff is the latest step in a plan he outlined in his first year of leading the company.
Kapur was elected as chair of Honeywell International Inc. in June 2024 and has been CEO since June 2023. Prior to becoming CEO, Kapur was president and chief operating officer.