Getting the Deal Through: Shareholder Activism & Engagement Trends and Developments in the UK 2017

Shareholder activism in the UK remained topical in 2016 with a number of high profile campaigns including ValueAct’s investment in Rolls Royce, Elliot’s investment in Meggitt and interventions in Anheuser-Busch InBev’s bid for SABMiller and Steinhoff’s bid for Poundland, and Crystal Amber’s takeover of Pinewood Studios. In the UK, activism has remained largely focused around the issues of executive remuneration, composition of company boards and governance structures, but deal-focused activism including ‘bumpitrage’ is now increasingly common.

For the second edition of Getting the Deal Through: Shareholder Activism & Engagement 2017, Will Pearce and Allison Kramer are pleased to have contributed the UK chapter focusing on the law and regulation that applies and is relevant to the activities of an activist and on recent trends and developments.

Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research Ltd. This article was first published in Getting the Deal Through: Shareholder Activism & Engagement 2017 (published in January 2017; contributing editors: Arthur F Golden, Thomas J Reid, Laura Turano and Thomas D Malinowsky, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP). For further information please visit www.gettingthedealthrough.com.