The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) is starting to feel the heat from activist shareholders seeking to unlock value in their investment. MMI Investments and Pirate Capital are two such high-profile hedge funds that have built up a substantial stake in the company. Many shareholders and investors are closely watching this situation as it could leave a lot of room for share appreciation.

MMI Investments, which holds 8.4% of the company’s stock, announced late last week that it intends to nominate four directors to the company’s board during its 2008 annual meeting. The nominees include John Dyson, Peter Michel, Robert Strang, Carroll and Wetzel. If elected the directors would take actions to ensure that the company acts in the best interest of shareholders to unlock value in whatever ways are possible.

“We are not seeking control of the board,” said Portfolio Manager Clay Lifflander. “We simply believe that the board as currently composed has demonstrated that it lacks the security industry prospective, strategic alternatives acumen and stockholder representation necessary to protect and maximize the value of Brink’s stockholders’ investment.”

The move follows similar actions taken by another famous activist hedge fund that demanded that the company immediately put itself up for sale back in 2006. Pirate Capital said shares of Brink’s could be worth $68 to $72 per share in the event of a sale or split-up. The hedge fund believes that a sale would attract substantial interest from other companies in the security sector that could use the acquisition to bolster their market share. However, a more difficult M&A market has put the breaks on such a deal.

Combined, these two activist hedge funds control almost 20% of the company, which should give them substantial room to get directors elected and make improvements to unlock shareholder value. If these directors are elected at the next annual meeting, we can expect the company to take some actions to return cash to shareholders and perhaps pursue some strategic alternatives. Combined, these factors make BCO a stock worth watching!

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