ConAgra Shareholder Jana Calls for Change

An activist investor says ConAgra Foods Inc.'s private-label business is choking the packaged-foods giant.

Jana Partners LLC on Thursday disclosed a nearly 7.2% stake in ConAgra and said it is seeking to change its board of directors in a bid to turn around what it says has been a disastrous deal: the company's $5 billion purchase of private-label foods company Ralcorp, according to a Thursday regulatory filing.

ConAgra, which makes classic foods like Slim Jim jerky, Snack Pack pudding and Hunt's ketchup, couldn't immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Struck in late 2012 after Ralcorp had publicly rebuffed an earlier approach, the union was billed as a way to spur growth at ConAgra, which was struggling with older brands that were losing relevance among today's consumers.

Coming out of the recession, the business of producing budget-friendly items for grocery stores to market under their own labels was growing faster. But becoming the nation's largest private-label manufacturer would turn out to be harder than Omaha-based ConAgra thought, and the business hasn't lived up to the company's expectations.

After ConAgra in March wrote down the unit's value by another $1.3 billion, Jana began buying up stock in an effort to push the company to review its assets, cut costs and improve its operating performance, according to its filing. Jana has proposed three board nominees to the company, including the hedge fund's founder Barry Rosenstein and former executives from General Mills Inc. and Nestlé SA.

The New York hedge fund, which manages more than $11 billion in assets, has successfully advocated changes and pushed for board representation at several investments without a proxy fight in recent years. But Jana said it is prepared to launch such a fight as a deadline to nominate directors for ConAgra's board looms this weekend. Jana said it had requested that window be extended, a common request when negotiations are ongoing.

Write to David Benoit at [e-mail] and Annie Gasparro at [e-mail]

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