White Squires, Black Knights, Spin-offs, and Succession: The Four Horsemen of Hedge Fund Activism in 2025
Last year saw global hedge fund activism activity reach record highs, both in the volume of campaigns and the number of new entrants. U.S. activism activity also increased year over year and accounted for nearly half of global activity. With activism now an established investment strategy for delivering returns uncorrelated to the broader equity market, […]
Scott A. Barshay, Krishna Veeraraghavan, and Carmen X. Lu are Partners at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. This post is based on their Paul Weiss memorandum.
Last year saw global hedge fund activism activity reach record highs, both in the volume of campaigns and the number of new entrants. U.S. activism activity also increased year over year and accounted for nearly half of global activity. With activism now an established investment strategy for delivering returns uncorrelated to the broader equity market, we should continue to see robust activity throughout 2025.
A confluence of factors, however, may see activist strategies evolve in the coming months. These factors include pent-up dealmaking ambitions, a significant pool of private equity dry powder, a changing regulatory environment, shifting macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical turbulence and accelerating structural shifts in the global economy underpinned by the rise of AI and automation. Together, these factors are helping set the stage for the following trends in activism:
