U.S. Shareholder Activism Review 2024 and a Look Toward 2025
As we know, activism can take many forms, but the goal always remains generally the same: to motivate management and boards to make changes in the way their companies are currently operating. The strategy that activists will use depends on their objectives and ultimate desired outcome. No one single factor drives an activist’s potential interest […]
Dan Burch is the Chairman & CEO, Bob Marese is the President, and Jillian DeMarco is the Vice President, at MacKenzie Partners, Inc. This post is based on a MacKenzie Partners memorandum by Mr. Burch, Mr. Marese, Mr. DeMarco, and Laurie Connell.
As we know, activism can take many forms, but the goal always remains generally the same: to motivate management and boards to make changes in the way their companies are currently operating. The strategy that activists will use depends on their objectives and ultimate desired outcome. No one single factor drives an activist’s potential interest in a company. There are often a multitude of screening criteria that can pique the interest of an activist investor. An activist’s decision to target a company is ultimately determined by the activist’s assurance in a strong narrative of significant shareholder value creation. Overall, activists are also attempting to drive a broad range of governance changes aimed at improving corporate accountability, transparency, and performance, with the goal to ultimately enhance shareholder value. In 2024 the U.S. saw a very robust shareholder activism environment; with a level of activity not previously seen. Here are a few key takeaways that we observed.
