Shareholder activism
CMS toolkit series
Activist shareholders in UK companies are increasingly following the lead of US activists, adopting a variety of tactics to promote their agenda and force change. In the UK, an activist with even a single share in a company has rights they can use to argue their cause.
Whether activists are seeking to increase the value of their investments or pushing for the company to change its behaviour on ESG issues, directors need to be able to respond quickly and effectively to their stake-building and campaigns.
And with many institutional investors increasingly sympathetic to activists’ aims – even, in some cases, embracing activist-like behaviour themselves – it’s more important than ever for listed companies to stay informed and ahead of the curve.
In this briefing note we discuss:
- The activist landscape
- How activists behave
- How to negotiate with activists
- Minimising the risk of activism
- The do’s and don’ts of responding to activism
