Done Deal – Insights from our M&A and Activism team – July 2025
Insights from our M&A and Activism team
Welcome to the latest installment of Done Deal. This month, Victoria Strachwitz highlights the crucial role of strategic communications during business transformations – such as transactions – in a short video. We also share insights from our Australia based experts on the future of private capital in the region. Additionally, we feature an article on the growing reputational and regulatory pressures shaping the 2025 proxy season, where our colleagues share key lessons and outline how companies can adapt their strategies for more effective offseason engagement. Finally, in our colleague spotlight, Joe Shipley, our new Senior Managing Director leading Private Equity in EMEA, offers a brief reflection on current trends and challenges.
Effective Communications During Business Transformations
Reputational and Regulatory Pressures Loom Large on the 2025 Proxy Season in the US
No matter how the data is cut, the 2025 proxy season saw staggeringly low shareholder support for environmental and social shareholder proposals (“E&S proposals”). But a quantitative analysis of proposals only tells a cursory view of any proxy season, let alone the 2025 proxy season. It’s important to understand the backdrop with which we entered proxy season before looking at the actual numbers. Our US team share key lessons from the 2025 proxy season and how companies can adapt their strategies for more effective offseason engagement.
Private Capital – A view from Australia
Australia has well and truly got the memo that private capital is booming. Private equity funds have reached an all-time high, and deal volumes have risen in 2025, much of it acquiring business listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Get our expert insights on what this means for the future of private capital in Australia.
Shareholder Activism Exceptional Expert listing – Financier
We are pleased to share that Pat Tucker, our Americas Head of M&A, Activism and Governance communications, was recognized as one of five Exceptional Experts for Shareholder Activism by Financier Worldwide Magazine this year. This recognition is not only a confirmation of Pat as an expert advisor but also of him as a visionary in the field of activism defense and an effective leader of our industry-recognized activism and strategic communications advisory team that helps clients navigate critical moments in their business journey. Congratulations, Pat and team!
What We’re Up To
Meet our Team: 30 seconds with Joe Shipley
Describe your area of expertise at FTI and the value you bring to clients?
I have spent my career advising private equity clients through moments of change or scrutiny. 15 years ago, the choices were usually binary: to engage with the media, or not; to showcase a transaction, or keep things low key. But today, big challenges clients bring to us are more complex, and rooted in ways in which strategic communications can contribute to the influence of their firm and the value of the portfolio.
My job at FTI is to bring to together the full force and breadth of the capabilities of FTI – within the strategic communications segment and beyond – to help private equity clients reach new investors, connect with emerging business clusters to originate transactions, and partner with new voices and influencers to celebrate the success of value creation strategies.
What deal trends are you seeing in your marketplace?
Politics, policy and regulation are now critical success factors in every transaction. Politicians have more powers to disrupt processes, and geopolitical instability mean that investors are now subject to the pressures and tensions often far beyond their control. But politics is now also a positive force in supporting deal activity. Governments in slow-growth developed economies know they are in a competition for capital. Over the past 12 months political leaders have often been willing to give their support to deals that would previously have been seen as too controversial.
What do you do outside of work that helps you reset and stay sharp for the next professional challenge?
I love to read: particularly the history of the late-antique and early-modern period, as well as the novels of Graham Greene and Jane Austen. When I get the chance I try to enjoy more of London – a city I am so privileged to live in.
Contact Us
To be added to the distribution list for FTI Consulting’s M&A and Activism Insights, or for further information on the dedicated M&A and Activism team at FTI Consulting, please contact Edward Bridges ([email protected]) Pat Tucker ([email protected]) or Alex Le May ([email protected]).
| The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals. ©2025 FTI Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved. www.fticonsulting.com |
