There Are More Shareholder Activists Than Ever Before
Dennis K. Berman
Partner at The Najafi Companies || Private-equity investor looking for unconventional opportunities
Who is an investment activist? There is still a better way to ask the question: Who is NOT an investment activist?
Each quarter, Lazard counts the number of shareholders who make public demands on the companies they own. The ranks of these activists -- and one can surely debate the flavors of such actors from "constructivists" to "brutalists" -- continues to expand.
By our count, the number has grown to 147 investors launching campaigns in 2019, up from 131 in 2018 and 100 in 2015. This is a somewhat remarkable growth rate, and lays bare some of my earlier observations that the very nature of share ownership is changing. There is grist to the idea that to be an actual human selecting actual stocks in the year 2020 pushes owners to be an "activist."
It's even interesting to think that over the next decade the term "activist" will disappear, and will be subsumed into the generic term "shareholder." It calls to mind great retronyms such as horseless carriage, film camera and ground warfare.
There are a number of other interesting observations in Lazard's 2019 annual shareholder activism report. You can download a synopsis of the report by clicking here. If you would like to be added to our quarterly mailing list -- and receive the fully-detailed version that is considered the industry-standard compendium on activism -- please send an email to [email protected].
Other interesting observations on 2019:
- 187 companies were targeted by activists, down 17% from 2018’s record but in line with multi-year average levels
- Activism against non-U.S. targets accounted for ~40% of 2019 activity, up from ~30% in 2015
- For the first time, Japan was the most-targeted non-U.S. jurisdiction, with 19 campaigns and $4.5bn in capital deployed in 2019 (both local records)
- A record 99 campaigns with an M&A-related thesis (accounting for ~47% of all 2019 activity, up from ~35% in prior years) were launched in 2019
- 122 Board seats were won by activists in 2019, in line with the multi-year average
- Consistent with recent trends, the majority of Board seats were secured via negotiated settlements (~85% of Board seats)
- 20% of activist Board seats went to female directors, compared to a rate of 46% for all new S&P 500 director appointees
Have thoughts on where share ownership is heading? I look forward to your comments.
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3 年There is an increase in the number of the shareholders, as we have noted on this subject . The number of the sharehodlars go on increasing to protect and secure their investment and at economic point of view , there is a high number of investors because who want to earn more profit. There is an increase in the number of shareholders of public companies. Public companies attract debt and equity investors who are eager to invest in them. These investors have witnessed more growth in the stock market and are looking for investment opportunities. They see a potential for profit from investing in publicly traded companies. Investors may be more willing to invest in private as well as public companies. Dennis K. Berman Thanks for sharing this amazing post.
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