Up-market pet-food and treats manufacturer Freshpet has hired bankers to explore a possible sale of the business following pressure from activist investors including hedge fund Jana Partners, according to a report by Barron's.

Jana Partners, acquired a stake of almost 20 per cent in the business last month, and as well as a potential sale, wants the business make changes to boost its stock price.

The report cites a regulatory filing as revealing that Jana Partners believes that Freshpet's shares are undervalued currently and represent an attractive investment opportunity.

Thym filling says that Jana Partners: "intends to have discussions with members of the Issuer’s board of directors (the “Board”) and management team regarding evaluating the Issuer’s strategic value in a sale, capitalising on interest in the category from significantly larger players with lower costs of capital, strong operational capabilities, global footprints and greater scale; capital allocation, including the Issuer’s capacity expansion initiatives; operations, fill rates, costs, free cash flow, brand building and margin execution; (iv) investor communication; management;  management compensation and incentives; and board composition and governance matters".