Why is Europe such an activism hotbed?

Beyond the Boardroom

Kieran Poole is joined by White & Case's Tom Matthews and Sonica Tolani as well as Insightia's Rebecca Sherratt to discuss Corporate Governance in Europe 2023.
Tom heads up the firm’s European shareholder activism practice, while Sonica is a specialist in public company M&A, ECM, and shareholder activism.
Among the top findings:
Emissions reporting takes centrestage: CSRD has ushered in a new era of ESG accountability, mandating European issuers with upwards of 250 employees annually report on sustainability policies and targets, including their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, starting in 2025.
The cost-of-living crisis drives investor revolts: FTSE 350 executive pay hit record highs in 2022, with total CEO realized pay averaging 3.03 million pounds ($3.76m), compared to 2.1 million and 2.6 million pounds in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Activists push for sales amid depressed stock valuations: Activist intentions have shifted from blocking deals to demanding the sale of long undervalued companies, at a time when interest rates and inflation are limiting other growth options. Fifteen companies faced demands for a sale and/or acquisition of a third-party last year, an increase from 13 in 2021, while the number of companies facing opposition to M&A transactions fell to 15 in 2022, from 29 in 2021.
Join the conversation about the report using the hashtag #InsightiaEurope23 on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Chapters

1. Why is Europe such an activism hotbed? (00:00:00)

2. Rebecca Sherratt (00:00:53)

3. Tom Matthews & Sonica Tolani (00:08:54)