Activist investor Barington Capital urges Macy’s to cut spending, WSJ reports

(Reuters) – Activist investor Barington Capital has built a position in Macy’s (NYSE:M) and is urging the department store chain to cut spending and consider the separation of a real-estate unit within the company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The investor was working with property owner Thor Equities to take a stake in Macy’s and were pushing the company to consider options for its Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury chains, the report said.

The investor group believed Macy’s shares were undervalued and that its real estate was worth between $5 billion to $9 billion, according to the report.

Shares of Macy’s which is set to report its third-quarter results this week, rose 3% in premarket trading. The company had last month delayed its results and disclosed that an employee hid as much as $154 million in expenses over years.

Barington Capital and Macy’s did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The activist investor was also asking Macy’s to cut its capital expenditure to between 1.5% and 2% of total sales and repurchase up to $3 billion worth of stock over the next three years, the report said.