Activist traders had their busiest quarter on report within the first three months of the yr, emboldened by depressed share costs which have supplied a fertile setting by which to search out targets.

There have been 83 new campaigns launched globally in the course of the first quarter, in accordance with knowledge collected by Barclays, with Europe and Asia accounting for greater than 50 per cent of exercise collectively for the primary time.

Whereas there have been a number of high-profile campaigns within the US, together with an activist pile-on at software program group Salesforce and a shortlived proxy battle at Disney initiated by Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Administration, exercise within the area declined by 30 per cent yr on yr.

Activists purchase stakes in corporations they suppose are undervalued and agitate for modifications that may assist improve the share worth, usually by means of asset disposals or administration modifications.

Boardroom raiders, as they’re generally recognized, have come again in full pressure after a quiet interval on the peak of the pandemic after they have been postpone by the optics of concentrating on corporations that have been attempting to navigate a worldwide well being disaster.

Essentially the most prolific activist in the course of the first quarter was Align Companions, a small South Korean agency based by former non-public fairness government Changhwan Lee. The activist, who launched eight campaigns in Korea in the course of the first quarter, has made a reputation for himself within the so-called Ok-pop battle the place he took on SM Leisure.

Nonetheless, well-known activists comparable to Elliott Administration, Icahn Group and Trian have continued to dominate with all of them threatening or embarking on proxy battles.

Carl Icahn is embroiled in a bitter combat with genome sequencing firm Illumina over its $30bn acquisition of Grail regardless of objections from EU authorities. Illumina final month advisable shareholders withhold votes for the three administrators nominated by Icahn on the firm’s upcoming annual assembly, saying his involvement is a risk to the corporate’s long-term success.

Boardroom battles are set to play out in a unique context now as market contributors digest the Securities and Change Fee’s rollout of the so-called common proxy card, which basically offers shareholders an à la carte choice for director nominees the place they will vote for company-backed executives or these put ahead by activists.

In line with Barclays, common proxy is in “wait-and-see mode.”