Activist investor Nelson Peltz is set to take a seat on Legg Mason's board after purchasing a 4.3 percent stake in the Baltimore-based fund firm, The Wall Street Journal reported. Peltz's hedge fund firm, Trian Fund Management, promised to acquire no more than 9.9 percent of Legg stock for the next two years and vote in favor of the firm's slate of directors.

In June, the Telegraph, citing unnamed sources, reported that Peltz was looking to raise his Legg Mason stake to 20 percent (Trian had disclosed a 0.51 percent stake in March). The pub reported that it was believed that Peltz could eventually call for a sale or break up of Legg Mason.

Peltz is known as a deep value investor. In 2007 he purchased a stake in Cadbury Schweppes and eventually forced the spin-off of a division of that firm.  

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