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Analysts are reacting to the disclosure by Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) late on Tuesday that it is evaluating strategic transactions to unlock shareholder value and that Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) will no longer hold board seats at the food giant.

Bank of America analyst Peter Galbo noted that while no longer having board representation, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) will still hold a stake of about 27.5% in Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC). "While we have no knowledge of Berkshire’s intentions, moving on from the board could signal potential share sales of its KHC’s investment, in our view," warned Galbo.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo analyst Chris Carey highlighted that ~1/3 of Kraft Heinz's (KHC) portfolio could be up for review. He reminded investors that the company has been re-positioning buckets of its portfolio recently, isolating less core assets. He noted that KHC appears to have already sought strategic alternatives for "Balance" assets, with a deal for Oscar Mayer reportedly being sought. "A restructured board could also be more aligned on a potential sale of assets, in our view," stated Carey.

Morgan Stanley analyst Megan Alexander Clapp said that while an evaluation of strategic transactions is not necessarily anything new, the formal press release could convey a sense of urgency. The alternative is that the company may have wanted to cushion the news regarding the board changes. "It's certainly possible the timing is merely a coincidence, though we think it’s likely the sequence of events could cause some investor concern about the long-term intentions of its largest shareholder under new leadership," wrote Clapp.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4450873-spotlight-on...

Kraft Heinz today also announced that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (together with its affiliates, “Berkshire Hathaway”) has informed the Company that, consistent with its other non-controlled investments, it will no longer hold Board seats on Kraft Heinz. As such, Timothy Kenesey and Alicia Knapp have stepped down from the Board due to their relationship with Berkshire Hathaway. With these changes, Kraft Heinz has reduced the size of its Board to 10 members.

Mr. Kenesey’s and Ms. Knapp’s decisions are not the result of any disagreement with management or the Board related to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250520339...

I had never heard of either. This is what their position and responsibilities in BH are:

Timothy Kenesey
• Position: President & CEO of MedPro Group, a Berkshire Hathaway company, since 2001.
• Responsibilities: Leads MedPro Group, the nation’s leading provider of healthcare liability insurance and risk solutions. Also serves as a director for other Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries, including Fechheimer and CHP. Additionally, he is an independent director on the board of Kraft Heinz since 2020.

Alicia Knapp
• Position: President & CEO of BHE Renewables, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
• Responsibilities: Oversees the development and management of renewable energy projects (solar, wind, geothermal, natural gas, and hydroelectric) for both wholesale markets and long-term power purchase agreements. She also serves on the board of directors for The Kraft Heinz Company

Maybe this is a sign of the new CEO making changes?

Possible that they are stepping off to enable BRK to evaluate purchase of some of the assets of the business? It sounds like the company is going to go through some consideration of its portfolio. BRK would be an interesting 100% owner for some of the assets if they were up for sale, perhaps?

Hello, everyone.

Most of KHC’s brands are getting eroded by the likes of Kirkland. In my opinion, Heinz is the only brand that KHC owns that truly has a moat. You are not seeing Costco unveiling Kirkland ketchup. That tells you something.

Would love to see a swap deal where Berkshire took 100% ownership of the Heinz assets and let somebody else own the rest of KHC. Charlie would approve.

You are not seeing Costco unveiling Kirkland ketchup. That tells you something.

I think it tells us that Heinz is willing to sell Costco ketchup at a price that is competitive enough such that Costco has no reason to go out and contract with someone to make Kirkland ketchup. If I had to make a wild guess, I'd say that the threshold is probably around 15%, in other words, if Costco can get someone to make an item at 15% less than a competing product costs, they would investigate making a Kirkland version of that product.

There is/was a Kirkland mayonnaise, but they still sell Hellmann's almost all the time. Maybe at one point Unilever wasn't willing to sell them Hellman's mayo at the required price, so they made a Kirkland one?

"Hello, everyone."

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Welcome back "Tode"!!!

Long time no hear....
another respected contributor to a few past Berkshire boards...
hope it was a great extended holiday...
always enjoyed your "take" regarding the Berkshire world....
looking forward to having you share` more of your thoughts.

ciao

Plus one for
Welcome back "Tode"

Tode

It is so great to see you back!

Mary

Thanks to all of you for the warm welcome back! I am touched. And Geez Louise, there apparently are some very ancient (but still with firing synapses) people hanging out here!

I am glad I checked in on the KHC news. I plan to be back if and when I think I might have something worthwhile to share.

BTW, I did not see any posts about the recent Reuters news that Greg Abel was in Tokyo this week meeting with all five of the Japanese investees. He reportedly is looking for deals. Fingers crossed.

So suddenly Berkshire’s reps resign from the KHC board. Hmmm. And now Greg is out making road trips to Tokyo. I am always optimistic about Berkshire’s future (so far, so good), so I am going to go with the hypothesis that Greg is highly motivated to get things moving in a positive direction before he offically takes the reins on 1/1/26. Stay tuned!

Great to see your recent posts Tode! Am optimistic that you’re correct about Greg’s level of motivation. Lots to like about Berkshire’s potential from here.
George

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