Nestle stock surges amid reports US hedge fund takes stake

GENEVA — Nestle says it’s keeping “an open dialogue with all of our shareholders” after news reports that a U.S. hedge fund has taken a large stake sent shares of the Swiss food and beverages giant soaring.

Shares of Nestle jumped 4.4 percent to 85.70 Swiss francs after reports that hedge fund kingpin Daniel Loeb’s Third Point had taken a $3.5 billion, or about 1 percent, stake. Nestle said it had “no specific comment.”

News reports cited a weekend letter from Third Point calling on Nestle to sell its stake in French cosmetics company L’Oreal, arguing that it was peripheral to the Swiss company’s core business and that a sale would be timely given L’Oreal’s recent performance.

Nestle’s stock surge Monday comes months after Germany’s Mark Schneider took over as Nestle CEO.