4th Annual Shareholder Activism State of the Market
The 4th Annual Shareholder Activism State of the Market by FTI Consulting’s M&A, Activism and Governance Team analyzes key themes and emerging trends from the past proxy season. The report looks at fundamental influencers of the shareholder activism market, including the implications of an explosion of new activist funds, the challenges activists have in winning board seats in proxy contests and what the data says about the new leadership at ISS.
Spotlight on Settlements Analysis
In an update to research conducted in last year’s report, our analysis of settlements found:
- A further expansion of settlements being made privately. Over 70% of settlements were reached before an activist’s position was revealed publicly, a record over the past decade.
- A continued speed of settlement. Settlements reached after an activist made its position public took, on average, 46 days to settle. This is slightly up from last year but well below the pre-universal proxy average of 71 days.
- A focus on committees. Over the past year, nearly a quarter of settlements included the creation of a special committee.
- Activists win more seats via settlement. Since universal proxy, 58% of settlements reached were for two or more Board seats, but in 62% of proxy fights activists won less than 2 seats.
About the Team
FTI Consulting’s M&A, Activism and Governance Team provides clients a suite of strategic communications solutions for navigating shareholder activism at every stage, including media relations, investor relations, governance advisory, investigations, transformation strategy and transaction support. FTI Consulting is one of the fastest growing activism defense teams:
- Ranked 4th in the 2024 Bloomberg Activism League Tables for Investor Relation and Public Relation firms
- Ranked 1st in 13D Monitor’s 2024 activism qualitative league tables for Strategic Advisors/Consultants
Our Experts
Pat Tucker
Americas Head of M&A and Activism
[email protected]
Garrett Muzikowski
Managing Director
[email protected]
Val Mack
Managing Director
[email protected]
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