Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

HD Supply: In Trump We Trust?

A takeover of the industrial distributor will be tricky and a breakup won't create value. But Trump's policies might.

December 21, 2016 at 6:04 PM UTC

Brooke Sutherland is Bloomberg News' Boston bureau chief and writes the Industrial Strength Newsletter. She was previously a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies and an M&A reporter for Bloomberg News.

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Donald Trump may be able to do more to create value at HD Supply Holdings Inc. than Jana Partners can.

Jana, the activist hedge fund founded by Barry Rosenstein, disclosed an 8.1 percent stake in the supplier of sewer pipes, construction tools and maintenance-repair products in October and said it may pursue options to create shareholder value. The stock rose about 2 percent that day -- but it's climbed about 28 percent since the U.S. election as investors piled into a company that stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of corporate tax reform, infrastructure investment and an inflation revival under a President Trump.