In January 2026, there were three Rule 2.7 announcements made across the UK public M&A market and nine further possible offers announced. Firm Offers announced this month: • Recommended cash offer by VertiGIS Ltd for...more
A “short attack” is a campaign in which a short seller publishes a critical report about a target company in order to profit from the ensuing decline in the company’s share price....more
Activists enjoyed a banner year in 2025. From proxy contest wins at blue-chip companies to a partnership with Taylor Swift’s fiancé, engaged shareholders once again demonstrated their capabilities, creativity and readiness....more
Despite geopolitical volatility, tariff policy uncertainty and a slower-than-expected M&A market in the first half of 2025, shareholder activism has not cooled. In fact, 2025 experienced another record year in the U.S. for...more
Companies continue to be pressured to move away from the conglomerate model and toward simplified and targeted strategies and risk profiles....more
Shareholder activism in the public real estate investment trust (REIT) sector has accelerated in recent years, with over 100 public campaigns and related engagements launched since 2020. As M&A markets regain momentum and...more
Effective shareholder engagement is a business imperative. Companies that do it well are more likely than others to build investor trust, anticipate investor expectations, protect against activism, and earn support for...more
Who may be interested: Registered Investment Companies; Directors of Registered Investment Companies; Investment Advisers; Hedge Funds Quick Take: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on December 10, 2025, in FS...more
Public company boards are operating in a tougher environment. Regulators expect more, investors are better organized, and activists have better tools. The old practice of checking an “independent” box once a year and...more
2025 has been a reasonably active year for the public M&A market in the UK. It started strongly, with the first half experiencing the highest deal volumes in any six-month period for several years, although the volume of...more
If precatory proposals are not a guaranteed option, proponents could look to submit binding shareholder proposals under Rule 14a-8 as an alternative, which in practice means binding bylaw proposals that would have direct...more
Wilson Sonsini’s 2025 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report reviews the corporate governance practices and disclosures of Silicon Valley’s largest public companies. The report includes information regarding board...more
Public companies in the U.S. could soon be freed of the obligation to report financial information every quarter. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated it will support shifting to a semiannual reporting...more
U.S. activists are increasingly looking to the U.K. for opportunities. What is increasing the appeal of the market? Tom Matthews (TM): Many listed companies in the U.K. and Europe continue to be perceived as undervalued...more
Heading into an initial public offering (IPO), companies spend significant time considering board and committee composition, capital structures, shareholder rights and other governance matters. ...more
Activist campaigns have become an increasingly common strategy for investors seeking to unlock shareholder value. M&A and other transactional-focused strategies have been a top driver of activist activity, with 45 percent of...more
Stockholders submitted more proposals at Silicon Valley’s 150 largest public companies this year, but those proposals were less successful, according to our analysis of 2025 proxy season results among the SV 150 and the S&P...more
Shareholder activism in the banking sector is on the rise in the United States. To date in 2025, there have been 13 activism campaigns against banks, already surpassing the 10 campaigns from 2024. Importantly, 10 of the 13...more
Engaging with shareholders and responding to shareholder activism continue to be top-of-mind for public companies. These situations present opportunities for management teams and boards of directors to work together to...more
I’ve blogged a few times about how the SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has delivered a speech in which he stated that one of his top priorities is to make being a public company an attractive proposition, with eliminating precatory...more
In the headlines today, it is common to see announcements about activist campaigns or activists taking equity positions in public companies. Nonetheless, full-scale proxy fights have become relatively rare. Most public...more
Major proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis announced that it will stop offering its standard benchmark proxy voting guidelines in 2027, and transition clients to differentiated client frameworks. Glass Lewis’ change comes amid a...more
Activism didn’t pause in 2025 – it evolved. Campaign counts are up, tactics have multiplied, and boards are settling faster and earlier. As Goldman Sachs’ Neil Rudisill put it on Cooley’s Market Talks panel, “We’re on...more
On September 15, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Mergers and Acquisitions responded to a no-action request from Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon), confirming that it would not recommend enforcement action...more
Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon) has begun implementation of its retail voting program, following the receipt of no-action relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). In support of this program, Exxon will...more