The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Mon, 27 Sep 2021 18:55:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8 How Boards Can Prepare for Activism’s Next Wave https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/02/27/how-boards-can-prepare-for-activisms-next-wave/ https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/02/27/how-boards-can-prepare-for-activisms-next-wave/#respond Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:37:24 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=136479?d=20210227093735EST Posted by Chris Ruggeri, Joel Schlachtenhaufen, and Annie Adams, Deloitte LLP, on Saturday, February 27, 2021
Editor's Note: Chris Ruggeri is a Principal, Deloitte Transaction and Business Analytics, Deloitte & Touche LLP; Joel Schlachtenhaufen is a Principal, M&A Services Deloitte Consulting LLP; and Annie Adams is Senior Manager, M&A Services Deloitte Consulting LLP. This post is based on a Deloitte memorandum by Mr. Ruggeri, Mr. Schlachtenhaufen, Ms. Adams, Maureen Bujno, and Bob Lamm. Related research from the Program on Corporate Governance includes The Long-Term Effects of Hedge Fund Activism by Lucian Bebchuk, Alon Brav, and Wei Jiang (discussed on the Forum here); Dancing with Activists by Lucian Bebchuk, Alon Brav, Wei Jiang, and Thomas Keusch (discussed on the Forum here); and Who Bleeds When the Wolves Bite? A Flesh-and-Blood Perspective on Hedge Fund Activism and Our Strange Corporate Governance System by Leo E. Strine, Jr. (discussed on the Forum here).

Introduction

As we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel of a pandemic that upended all of our lives and disrupted almost every business, activist investors are getting in gear, and the pieces are expected to be in place for continued growth in merger and acquisition activity through 2021. Political unrest, accelerating social change, and renewed emphasis on corporate purpose beyond shareholder primacy will continue to shape the future and inject uncertainty. Our world is literally changing before our eyes, and we have to ask ourselves, how will this affect shareholder activism in 2021 and beyond, and what will the impact be on M&A activity? And how have the events of 2020 changed what board directors need to do to be prepared for M&A generally and to deal with activists that might emerge?

The 2020 slowdown set the stage

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