Loeb's Third Point Eyes United Technologies Alongside Ackman

• March 26 2018
• Rick Clough, Scott Deveau

United Technologies Corp. is becoming a magnet for activist investors.

United Technologies Corp. is becoming a magnet for activist investors.

Dan Loeb’s Third Point is interested in building a stake in the maker of jet engines, elevators and air conditioners, potentially raising the pressure on United Technologies as it considers breaking apart. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management has also taken a position in the company, Bloomberg News reported last month.

Third Point didn’t reveal the size of any holding in United Technologies or say whether it would seek any changes at the Farmington, Connecticut-based manufacturer. United Technologies Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes has pledged to consider splitting the company up later this year.

Loeb’s fund and United Technologies were granted early termination under the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, according to a filing that appeared on the agency’s website Monday. The FTC filing is required when an investor buys shares in a company above a certain threshold and seeks to hold talks with that company about things such as strategy, management or board changes.

United Technologies rose 2.8 percent to $125.08 at 10:13 a.m. in New York after advancing as much as 3.6 percent for the biggest intraday gain in more than a month. The shares fell 4.1 percent this year through March 23, comparable to the decline in a Standard & Poor’s index of industrial companies.

Third Point, Pershing and United Technologies declined to comment.