Growing activist focus on Europe adds urgency to efforts in averting campaigns

London

AFTER a busy year for activist investors targeting European companies such as Nestle, London Stock Exchange 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 M&A at JPMorgan Chase & Co 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 US$45 billion by the third quarter this year, nearly twice the amount as all of last year, according to Lazard. European companies gathered more than 20 per cent of this, compared to about 10 per cent in previous years, the adviser said.