The Activist Floodgates Are Open, J.P. Morgan Says

WSJ article: http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/08/07/the-activist-floodgates-are-open-j-p-morgan-says/

The evolving response to shareholder activism

An article written by Sidley Austin LLP, posted on Lexology.com covering the evolving response to shareholder activism was an interesting read.

Here is a snippet with the full article link here:

Shareholder activism with respect to public companies continued to grow last year, and there are few indications of this trend abating in the near future. Activists targeted more than 200 companies in 2014, compared to about 120 in 2010. Activist funds now have over $200 billion in assets under management, and as a class, they outperformed all other hedge fund strategies in 2014. Accompanying this strong financial performance has been a remarkable record of success in achieving their governance objectives. For example, activists last year enjoyed a 73% success rate in placing their director nominees on targeted company boards, either through full blown proxy contests or negotiated settlements. In total, activists won 197 board seats and were instrumental in replacing 19 CEOs in 2014. So far in 2015, the number of actual or threatened proxy contests is on track to exceed last year’s pace, and with a 67% success rate, activists have continued to enjoy strong results.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4d1c3f6d-2af1-48e5-8ddd-32dd9a662cf3