Catalent rises 9% on WSJ report that activist investor Elliott has a ‘significant’ stake

Activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management has reportedly built a significant stake in Catalent (NYSE:). Shares in the drugmaker surged as much as 8.8% in pre-market Thursday following the Wall Street Journal report.

The report also added that the activist investor is in talks with potential director candidates about running in a proxy contest. WSJ didn’t report on the size of the stake, but said it is “significant.”

The company’s nomination window for director candidates closes on July 29.

Elliott’s push for changes comes at a time when the company’s CFO left in April while Catalent suffered from operational issues that pushed shares sharply lower several months ago.

The WSJ reporting also comes just two days after Constellation Brands (NYSE:) announced it reached a deal with Elliott that will see it appoint two new independent directors to its board.