JANA Partners Discloses Stake in Alcoa, Ingersoll-Rand

In its latest 13F filing, for the quarter ended 03/31/07, JANA Partners disclosed a 3.3 million share stake in Alcoa (AA). The stake represents about 0.38% of Alcoa's shares outstanding.

Last week, the firm disclosed a letter to Alcoa calling upon Alcoa's Board of Directors to drop its efforts to acquire Alcan Inc. (AL) and to instead focus on creating value for shareholders through an exploration of strategic alternatives, including potentially a sale of Alcoa to one or more buyers.

It is also being speculated that JANA had something to do with Ingersoll-Rand's (IR) announcement yesterday that it will explore strategic alternatives for its Bobcat and construction-related businesses and will expand its buyback plan to $4 billion, along with accelerating the plan. JANA showed a 6.3 million share, or 2.08% stake, in Ingersoll-Rand in the latest 13F. This is below the 5% threshold that would require a 13D.