San Francisco-based hedge fund investor ValueAct Capital Partners LP has taken a 7.3% stake in Santa Ana’s Advanced Medical Optics Inc.
ValueAct Capital is known as an activist investor that urges management for changes aimed at boosting a company’s value.
The investor said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing it could seek to buy more shares and discuss Advanced Medical’s business with management or directors, other shareholders, industry analysts, existing or potential strategic partners or competitors.
ValueAct didn’t outline any issues with Advanced Medical in the filing.
Advanced Medical, a maker of eye surgery devices and contact lens solutions, is turning the corner on a product recall late last year.
The episode pummeled the company’s shares and drove a fourth-quarter loss.
For the first quarter, the company reported better-than-expected results and reaffirmed its outlook for the year.
Advanced Medical’s shares have gain back ground lost after the recall and are up about 20% this year with a market value of $2.5 billion.
ValueAct manages some $1.5 billion on behalf of institutional and wealthy investors. In the past, the firm was an investor in Irvine’s TriZetto Group Inc., a maker of healthcare software.
It is the second largest shareholder in Reuters PLC, which Canada’s Canadian publisher Thomson Corp. is seeking to buy for $17.2 billion.
