That was driven by robust activity focused on capital allocation, board changes, and environmental and social demands, the report said. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Activist investor campaigns launched in the past three years Top 10 activist investors in 2022 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
(Adds detail from report)
By Niket Nishant and Akash Sriram
Feb 16 (Reuters) - Companies that have been spending
actively in pursuit of growth opportunities will be the chief
targets of activist investors in the first half of the year,
according to a report from data provider Insightia.
In an economic reality where capital is hard to come by and
recession is a likelihood, activist investors will ask companies
to focus more on margins and the quickest path to profitability,
the report said.
"There will (also) be some cases where activists will push
for buybacks and dividends," said Josh Black, editor-in-chief of
Insightia, a brand of software company Diligent .
In the second half of 2023, as the U.S. Federal Reserve
possibly eases off its hiking cycle and the market for mergers
and acquisitions (M&A) improves, companies with significant
drops in valuations will see more activists campaign for a sale,
according to the report.
Several high-profile U.S. firms have lately been caught in
the crosshairs of activist investors, who push for changes and
wage proxy fights against management for board seats.
Trian Fund's Nelson Peltz in January started a proxy fight
against Walt Disney Co , but withdrew his bid for a board
seat earlier this month after the media giant announced a
restructuring program that addressed most of the fund's
criticisms.
Earlier this week, payments and banking conglomerate FIS unveiled plans to spin-off its merchant business
following pressure to explore strategic options from activist
investors D.E. Shaw Group and Jana Partners.
The report said Elliott Management took the top spot in
2022, as eight of the nine campaigns it publicly launched last
year were either successful or partially successful, with one
still ongoing.
The number of companies publicly subjected to new campaigns
by activist investors worldwide hit 929 in 2022, a 6% increase
from a year earlier.
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