Legal 500 Shareholder Activism

Continental Grain in its activism campaign with D.E. Shaw against Bunge «Kleinberg belongs to a select group of companies that are at the forefront of activist fund advisors in foundation and activism campaigns.» Lawrence: It really comes down to our experience. Today, our activism team at Vinson & Elkins is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable corporate advocacy and board practices in this highly specialized field. We`ve seen just about everything after championing over 150 activism campaigns over the past 6 years, so we know what to expect and how to deal with it. We are also fortunate to have close to 30 mergers and acquisitions, securities, governance and litigation lawyers on our team to provide pervasive support and support to our clients during these critical times that can feel like a corporate crisis. 2. Companies usually have the opportunity to explain the rationale and good faith of the transaction to shareholders. Companies are well advised to start working on these points and rehearse their presentations as soon as possible, before agreeing on an agreement. It can be very difficult to rehabilitate even the largest transaction that is not properly communicated to investors and the market at the beginning. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP brings together shareholder engagement advocacy and activism experts with experience in a wide range of industries, including technology, media, and life sciences.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the practice has focused on instructions from boards and executives, especially with regard to the introduction of poison pills. After joining the firm in the fall of 2019, lawyer Elizabeth Bieber took over as head of the firm; Ethan Klingsberg, head of the U.S. Corporate and M&A department, is also an advisor to numerous public companies. The group is primarily based in New York, but also has a presence in Silicon Valley, where Sarah Solum heads the company`s new office. Solum joined Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in July 2020, strengthening the team`s offering to clients in the financial services industry. It should be noted that The Legal 500 has once again ranked only five lawyers in the country as «Leading Lawyers» in the field of shareholder activism and three of them are Olshan partners. Olshan`s shareholder activism practice has consistently topped all influential shareholder activism rankings and publications. Olshans No. 1 is highlighted in shareholder activism rankings and publications, including FactSet, Bloomberg Activism Advisory League Tables, Refinitiv Global Shareholder Activism Scorecard, and Activist Insight Monthly. Customer testimonials are numerous, noting the following: Comscore defends Starboard Value Starboard`s activism campaign Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is based in New York City and is part of the broader M&A department. It is considered by the market to be one of the best performers in the proxy wrestling space, where one of its many recent successes has been representing Hanover Bancorp in a proxy competition against shareholder Premier Asset. The recent workload also reflects a wealth of discernible experience in representing large companies in their responses to unsolicited takeover proposals; Richard Grossman has a good reputation in this area.

Stephen Arcano is the firm`s global head of global transaction groups and is also a key member of the activist advocacy team. Our shareholder activism practice also works with companies in times of «peace» to proactively prepare them for shareholder activism by assessing and improving their organizational documents and corporate governance practices, and providing advice on strategic relationships with institutional and private investors as well as proxy advisory firms. In addition, our shareholder activism practice has developed market-leading expertise in covering the costs of preparing and defending activism under our clients` E&O insurance policies. A pioneer of Olshan`s shareholder activism, Steve led Olshan`s shareholder activism practice more than 30 years ago. Today, he is one of the country`s leading lawyers, advising hedge funds and investment partnerships on activist situations in the United States and around the world. Steve advises on some of the best-known activist campaigns year after year. Steve`s most recent performances included Elliott Management at Twitter, AT&T and EBay; starboard value at Papa John`s and AECOM; George Feldenkreis, founder and former executive chairman of Perry Ellis International, Inc., on his appointment of directors and the successful and unsolicited acquisition of Perry Ellis; and dedicated capital at Benchmark Electronics. Most notably, Steve led the representation of Starboard Value in its «historic» full-board win at Darden restaurants; H. Partners in its successful campaign to retain precedents at Tempur Sealy; Starboard Value for his success at Yahoo!; and Elliott Management in its successful execution at Arconic, Inc.