(Reuters) - Activist investor Sachem Head has built a 3.6% stake in Delivery Hero, seeking a seat on the supervisory board of the German food delivery company and potentially to oust CEO Niklas Oestberg, a source told Reuters on Thursday.
The news, which was first reported by Bloomberg, pushed Delivery Hero's shares up 14.8% by 1458 GMT to their highest level since November, putting Sachem Head's share of the company at more than 300 million euros.
Delivery Hero said it does not comment on rumours or speculation. New York-based Sachem Head declined to comment.
Delivery Hero this year faced growing investor concern about its ability to generate cash and repay outstanding debt organically while still delivering both profitability and growth.
The company's failure to sell its loss-making Southeast Asia business, foodpanda, had also unsettled investors.
Sachem Head recently bought a 5.2% stake in British competitor Deliveroo.
The largest Delivery Hero shareholder is Dutch investment company Prosus with 25%, which is backed by, among others, the South African start-up investor Naspers. Sachem Head, founded in 2012, says it manages assets of around $3.6 billion. Founder Scott Ferguson previously worked for the hedge fund Pershing Square (NYSE:SQ).
In Germany, Sachem Head has only appeared publicly as a shareholder in chemical company Lanxess, where the fund holds more than 5%.