Trian sells 9.9% stake in Legg Mason to Singapore’s Shanda investing group

Activist investor exits after Legg lost 42% of its value in past year.

Activist investor Trian Fund Management agreed to sell its 9.9% stake in money manager Legg Mason Inc. to Shanda Group, a Singapore-based investing holding company.
Trian is selling “substantially all” of the shares it owns, according to a statement Tuesday from Baltimore-based Legg Mason that didn’t disclose terms.
“We are pleased to welcome Shanda as a long-term strategic shareholder,” Joseph A. Sullivan, the chairman and chief executive officer of Legg Mason, said in the statement. “We look forward to benefiting from their expertise in important areas of growth for us.”
Trian is exiting its investment after almost six years during which the New York hedge fund firm installed Sullivan as CEO and pushed for measures to improve shareholder value. Nelson Peltz, a billionaire investor and founding partner of Trian, resigned from Legg Mason’s board in 2014.
Legg Mason’s shares have lost 42% of their value in the past year. The stock is still up about 43% since reports of Trian’s activist campaign first came out in June 2009.