Companies engaging with shareholders more to avoid public activist campaigns
London — After a busy year for activist investors, targeting European companies such as Nestlé, London Stock Exchange Group and Smith & Nephew, experts say firms are becoming more eager to address shareholder concerns before they escalate into public campaigns. "Activism has pushed boards to look hard at every source of shareholder value creation and get in front of any active investor campaign," according to Hernan Cristerna, global co-head of mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase in London. Activist investors have made 135 public demands against companies headquartered in Europe so far this year, compared with a record 142 in 2016, according to data compiled by researcher Activist Insight. Activists deployed $45bn by the third quarter this year, nearly twice the amount of all last year, according to Lazard. European companies gathered more than 20% of this, compared to about 10% in previous years, the adviser said. Companies could announce more buy-backs, special dividends an...
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