Shareholder Activists - June, 2008
Shareholder activism describes the efforts of a shareholder, or group of shareholders, who call for change in a company they deem undervalued in order to improve its bottom line. Against the backdrop of current market conditions, traditional activists have continued to voice their opinion to seek changes in strategy and management to unlock shareholder value. Recently, the market has seen new players join the activist arena, increased activist efforts into certain industries, a greater willingness on the part of corporations to concede board seats to avoid costly proxy battles, and an emphasis on alternative strategies to build a position in a target company.
- Shareholder Activists - 80KB
Serial Activists - June, 2007
The Ipreo Buy-Side Intelligence Team maintains a database of the world's leading shareholder activists and provides timely research and data as these activists look for their next target. Common activist demands include selling the company or certain assets, or taking on debt to issue a stock buyback or to increase the dividend. These actions require financing, and as the recent credit crunch made financing more difficult, there was a slowdown in new activist campaigns being launched. The credit situation is slowly improving, however, and activist demands are beginning to pick up as well. Below is a current snapshot of six prominent shareholder activists and their most recent activist situations that have either been on-going or have been recently launched.
- Serial Activists - 69KB
Quarterly Edition Q3 - September 30, 2007
U.S. markets ended the quarter higher following a volatile period which began with record highs for the Dow and S&P in July. The early gains however gave way to sharp declines later in the quarter amid widespread credit concerns, leading to a global liquidity crisis that threatened to slow economic growth.
Special Edition: Market Sell-Off - Week Ending July 23rd
The U.S. markets ended the week lower as the Dow decreased 4.2%, the Nasdaq dropped 4.7% and the S&P 500 fell 4.9%. The Dow dropped nearly 440 points during intraday trading on Thursday, its lowest decline since February's drop of 416 points. The sell-off triggered trading curbs on the NYSE prohibiting certain types of computerized index arbitrage trading. Weighing on the markets were several announcements this week that renewed credit concerns, various signs of a continued weak housing market, mixed corporate earnings and an increase in energy prices. Oil ended the week at $77.02 per barrel, up 1.6%, a penny off its record high in July 2006, following a third-weekly decline in U.S. crude supplies during a season of peak demand.
Ipreo Perception Analysis - Shareholder Activists
The Ipreo Perception Team recently spoke with members from the buy-side community in order to gather perspectives and opinions on shareholder activism. Given the recent proxy season's focus on issues of shareholder rights and corporate governance combined with the increase in activist situations, this was a topic we thought was timely and would be beneficial as a strategically informative piece. Below is an explanation of our methodology.
Quarterly Edition Q2 - June 30, 2007
The markets in review
Quarterly Edition Q1 - March 31, 2007
The markets in review
Corporate Scrutiny: Part II - Backdating Options and the Reaction of the Institutional Investment Community
Recently, Ipreo Global Market Intelligence investigated backdating stock options, the new wave of scandals sweeping Corporate America, specifically focusing on institutional shareholders' reaction to these events. As a follow-up to our earlier study, our team examined the actual impact these scandals had on portfolio management decisions: whether institutional investors retreat from the companies under investigation, determine that these allegations have relatively little to do with a company's overall performance, or increase their propensity to buy these temporarily undervalued companies embroiled in scandal.
- Corporate Scrutiny: Part II - 269KB
Ipreo Focus Series - New Issuance Outlook 2007
In spite of recent credit concerns and market volatility, the Dow returned to record highs and the new issuance market proved even stronger after the positive reaction to the larger-than-anticipated interest rate cut at the FOMC September 18th meeting. If all deals currently in the backlog (i.e. deals filed and expected to offer shares on the U.S. markets) were to price, 2007 would exceed 2006 in total proceeds raised by almost $11B, outpacing the new issuance market we have experienced in the past few years.
