By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Sachem Head Capital Management nominated four directors to the board of Performance Food Group PFGC.N, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday, at a time the hedge fund is urging the food distributor to consider merging with a rival.

The hedge fund, run by Scott Ferguson, privately nominated the director candidates shortly before the deadline earlier this month. The sources did not disclose the candidates' names.

Performance Food Group currently has 12 directors.

Sachem Head has been pushing Performance Food to explore ways to improve its profitability and would like it to consider a merger with US Foods Holding USFD.N, said the sources who were not authorized to discuss the private matter publicly.

US Foods confirmed that it approached its rival about a possible combination.

Performance Food CEO George Holm told analysts on the company's earnings call that the board determined there was "no basis" to engage with US Foods. The "board has a track record of regularly evaluating a range of potential paths to generate shareholder value," he added.

Sachem Head has considerable experience in the food industry, having run a board fight and ultimately settled for seats at US Foods in 2022. Ferguson was a US Foods director until February 2024.

The hedge fund began building its stake in Performance Food recently. The investment was not listed on its most recent regulatory filing.

Ferguson could not be reached and a Sachem Head representative declined to comment.

Performance Food declined to comment.

Bloomberg first reported that Sachem Head nominated directors, without citing the number of seats the hedge fund asked to fill on the company's board.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Richard Chang)

((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 233 2138; Reuters Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))