August 10, 2015
This Client Alert provides an update on shareholder activism activity involving publicly traded domestic companies during the first half of 2015. At the midway point of 2015, shareholder activism shows no signs of slowing. In fact, our survey for the first half of 2015 includes nearly as many activist campaigns as did our survey for all of 2014.
Although funds continue to make news with activist campaigns involving large domestic companies, the most notable trend is the sheer number of funds involved in activist campaigns that are captured by our survey: 42 funds in just the first half of 2015 versus 35 funds for all of 2014.
In all, our 2015 Mid-Year Activism Update covers 56 public activist campaigns at 50 unique domestic companies by 42 unique investors during the period from January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015. Ten of those companies faced advances from at least two activist investors. Market capitalizations of the targets range from just above our study’s $1 billion minimum to approximately $120 billion.
We have included a chart of the activist campaigns covered by the survey and a statistical analysis of various trends. We have also continued our survey of settlement agreement terms with breakdowns of settlement agreements signed during the first half of 2015 and updated statistics on key settlement terms.
We hope you enjoy Gibson Dunn’s Mid-Year 2015 Activism Update. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of your Gibson Dunn team.
For further information, please contact the Gibson Dunn lawyer with whom you usually work, or any of the following authors in the firm’s New York office:
Barbara L. Becker (212.351.4062, [email protected])
Richard J. Birns (212.351.4032, [email protected])
Dennis J. Friedman (212.351.3900, [email protected])
Eduardo Gallardo (212.351.3847, [email protected])
Adam J. Brunk (212.351.3980, [email protected])
Anish Vaishnav (212.351.5352, [email protected])
Please also feel free to contact any of the following practice group leaders and members:
Mergers and Acquisitions Group:
Jeffrey A. Chapman – Dallas (214.698.3120, [email protected])
Stephen I. Glover – Washington, D.C. (202.955.8593, [email protected])
Jonathan K. Layne – Los Angeles (310.552.8641, [email protected])
Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Group:
Brian J. Lane – Washington, D.C. (202.887.3646, [email protected])
Ronald O. Mueller – Washington, D.C. (202.955.8671, [email protected])
James J. Moloney – Orange County, CA (949.451.4343, [email protected])
Elizabeth Ising – Washington, D.C. (202.955.8287, [email protected])
Lori Zyskowski – New York (212.351.2309, [email protected])
© 2015 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Attorney Advertising: The enclosed materials have been prepared for general informational purposes only and are not intended as legal advice.