ValueAct Capital Management has accumulated a stake at American Express (AmEx), worth $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
ValueAct's investment, which is still less than 5 percent of AmEx, is viewed as a way for the activist fund to pursue "shareholder-friendly" changes at AmEx.
Bloomberg adds that Ken Chenault, chief executive officer of AmEx, has been under pressure to show that AmEx can recover from a series of setbacks this year.
The company experienced several setbacks, which include the ending of its partnership with Costco Wholesale Corporation.
A report from Reuters adds that AmEx said last Friday that Costco won't be accepting any more of its credit cards at U.S. stores starting next year.
The report also adds that AmEx has ended a co-branded deal with JetBlue Airways Corp in the first quarter.
The company has coped with the loss of its partnerships by cutting costs, according to Reuters.
Aside from ending partnerships, AmEx also lost an antitrust ruling that could hamper its ability to charge higher fees to merchants, according to Bloomberg.
The source, which asked not to be identified as the holding isn't public yet, told Bloomberg that AmEx is not yet a core active target for ValueAct.
AmEx is viewed as a quality business with growth potential.
Bloomberg adds though that ValueAct could still sell its stake of AmEx if the company decides to go against long-term campaign changes. ValueAct has already held preliminary talks with AmEx.
Marina Norville, a spokesperson from AmEx, told Bloomberg that they have spoken to ValueAct, as well as other investors.
"We have been speaking with them (ValueAct), as we do with other investors, and look forward to continuing a constructive dialogue," she said. "At American Express, we are focused on building long-term value for shareholders, and are always open to the views and perspectives of our investors."
Bloomberg adds that ValueAct, which manages more than $18 billion, usually invests in good companies with recurring revenues that it views as temporarily mispriced.
They also prefer to influence managers and directors behind the scenes.
Several public companies that ValueAct has already influenced include Microsoft Corp., Gardner Denver Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Reuters Group Plc, Adobe Systems Inc. and Sara Lee Corp, according to Bloomberg.
