Activist investor Elliott Management has disclosed a near 5% stake of about 3.8 billion pounds ($4.75 billion) in BP, making it the oil company’s third-largest shareholder, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people close to the matter.
Elliott is trying to push the British oil company to cut spending on renewables and make big divestments, the FT report said.
BP’s shares fell 1.3% to 462.5 pence after the FT report.
A BP spokesperson declined to comment. Elliott Management did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
CEO Murray Auchincloss is on a mission to revitalise BP’s performance and boost profits.
Auchincloss will unveil the group’s new strategy to investors on February 26.
BP reported a decline in earnings on Tuesday, after enjoying two years of record profits driven by a recovery in consumption after the pandemic and spike in energy prices due to the Ukraine war.
BlackRock and Vanguard hold larger stakes in the energy major, at 9% and 5% respectively, the FT report said.
Elliott Management, which has about $70 billion in assets, is due to publish a regulatory filing in the U.S. on Friday to disclose its quarterly positions in listed companies.
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Jane Merriman)