Activist Jana Partners Builds Stake in Fiserv
Activist investor Jana Partners has built a stake in payments company Fiserv. The firm is reportedly pressuring the financial technology provider to implement measures to boost its stock price. This activist involvement could lead to significant strategic changes, including potential M&A or divestitures, at the prominent fintech company.
- Jana Partners is reportedly advocating for Fiserv to accelerate growth in its core banking operations and conduct a strategic review to divest non-strategic assets. However, the activist is not expected to push for a separation of the company's main payments and fintech divisions and is said to be supportive of CEO Mike Lyons and the "One Fiserv" integration plan. - The activist engagement follows a period of significant underperformance for Fiserv's stock, which fell approximately 75% in the year prior to the announcement. This decline was linked to a leadership overhaul, reduced earnings guidance, and increased competition in the merchant solutions market. - Jana Partners, founded by Barry Rosenstein, has a track record of pushing for strategic alternatives, including sales of the entire company. Notable past campaigns include urging Whole Foods to sell itself, which resulted in an acquisition by Amazon, and pushing PetSmart towards a sale to a private equity consortium. - Fiserv's valuation multiples have compressed significantly, making it a potential activist target. As of February 2026, its P/E ratio was 9.37, a steep decline from its 12-month average of 23.6, suggesting a disconnect between its stock price and historical earnings power. - The company's largest transaction to date was the $22 billion acquisition of First Data in 2019, which brought the fast-growing Clover point-of-sale platform into its portfolio. More recent acquisitions have focused on bolstering its digital banking and payment distribution capabilities. - In response to its lagging performance, Fiserv management had already initiated a "critical and necessary reset," acknowledging that it had previously overpriced some offerings, which boosted short-term earnings but negatively impacted its ability to attract new clients. - Jana Partners has a history of collaborating with industry executives to advise on its campaigns. For the Fiserv engagement, the firm is reportedly working with at least one banking executive with a background in dealmaking to inform its strategy.
