Sky Blog
The ever-evolving challenges facing corporate boards prompt periodic updates to a snapshot of what is expected from the board of directors of a public company—not just the legal rules, or the principles published by institutional investors and various corporate and …
The Delaware Supreme Court has before it a case that could dramatically reshape corporate governance in the United States. The case, The Williams Companies Stockholder Litigation, addresses the legitimacy of an “anti-activist pill” whose particularly aggressive features would severely …
Short selling serves a critical function in the capital markets by encouraging price discovery and preventing the formation of asset bubbles. But recent years have seen a rise in “negative activism,” a novel phenomenon that has flourished in the era …
In response to the sharp increase in campaigns by activist hedge funds in France and Europe generally, a French commission has conducted an extensive investigation and issued a carefully researched, reasonable and balanced report recommending regulatory and procedural changes to …
Institutional investors are howling for US public companies to focus more on the long-term.[1] This is unsurprising. Long-term focused companies produce significantly better results over time, reporting far greater revenue growth with less volatility, far higher levels of economic …
Shareholder activism is growing in popularity across the world and appears to deliver mostly benign results for firms and stockholders. However, testing the effects of activism is problematic. For at least 30 years, researchers have recognized the difficulty of causal …
A hot topic in corporate governance is the so-called short-termism of publicly held companies. In response to actual and anticipated pressure from activist hedge funds, companies are, some say, focusing too much on short-term gains by, for instance, shunning research …
Regardless of industry, size or performance, no company should consider itself immune from hedge fund activism. No company is too large, too popular, too new or too successful. Even companies that are respected industry leaders and have outperformed the market …
The rise of shareholder activism, and its recent international expansion, have led researchers to look at many aspects of hedge fund activism. Academic papers have almost exclusively focused on the effects on firms targeted in activist campaigns. But the intense …
Activist campaigns are on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic. Even large-cap companies are increasingly targeted by activists—particularly hedge funds—with remarkable success. A big reason for that success is the support that activist proposals attract from traditional institutions, …
A number of recent news stories have recounted the quick and dramatic changes that activist hedge funds trigger in the companies they target. In the Atlantic magazine, for example, a 2016 article describes DuPont’s decision to cut 10 percent of …
As we noted in early 2018, the threat of activism continues to be high, and has become a global phenomenon. The conclusion of a volatile and dynamic 2018 prompts a brief update of the state of play.
A recent decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery highlights the need for boards of directors of Delaware publicly traded companies to develop heightened awareness and vigilance in responding to shareholder activists, particularly those following a short-term agenda of putting …
Our new academic study examines the long-term effects of interventions by activist hedge funds. Prior studies document positive equal-weighted long-term returns and operating performance improvements following activist interventions, and typically conclude that activism is beneficial to shareholders. We challenge and …
As the spotlight on boards, management teams, corporate performance and governance intensifies, as articles like the Bloomberg and Fortune profiles of Elliott Management (“The World’s Most Feared Investor—Why the World’s CEOs Fear Paul Singer” and “Whatever It Takes to Win—How …
In 2010, Roger Carr, then-chairman of British confectionery Cadbury, waged a grueling five-month battle before losing control of the company to Kraft Foods. “At the end of the day,” he said, “there were simply not enough shareholders prepared to take …
A key challenge for activist investors is convincing other shareholders that the activist agenda will increase the value of a target firm. Accordingly, activists commonly release public disclosures through traditional and social media, news wires, or their fund’s website. These …
The board of directors is the highest decision-making authority in a corporation. But sometimes boards struggle to make decisions. In surveys, 67 percent of directors report the inability to decide about some issues in the boardroom. Moreover, 37 percent say …
“Deal Activism,” in which activists invest to oppose announced deals, has become an increasingly frequent component of the activist playbook. While efforts by the target company’s shareholders to oppose a deal to secure a higher bid have received the most …
As we approach the start of the 2018 proxy season, developments since January 2015 prompt a brief review of the state of play.