Activist investor takes 5% stake in WESCO International

News reports from a number of investment-oriented websites pondered the intentions of Alexander Roepers and his Atlantic Investment Management firm, which disclosed last week that it owns about a 5% stake in WESCO International. Atlantic is known as an activist investor and has been buying WESCO shares since early March for investment purposes. Atlantic Investment Management concentrates on industrial and consumer products and services companies with market caps in the $1 billion to $30 billion range and refers to its activism as “constructive engagement.” The investor media (while mischaracterizing WESCO as an electronics distributor) said the investment puts WESCO in the top five companies among Atlantic’s holdings and they generally look for Roepers to prod management to take steps to increase earnings.