Morgan Stanley holds top spot as activist defense firm -data

SandRidge Energy

21/03/2019 21:05

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
    BOSTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley  MS.N  was
ranked as the top adviser to companies targeted by activist
investors publicly for the third straight year in 2018 while
Goldman Sachs  GS.N  vaulted past two competitors to the number
No. 2 spot, according to Refinitiv data published on Thursday. 
    In 2018, Morgan Stanley advised on 22 campaigns, working
with Akamai Technologies  AKAM.O , SandRidge Energy  SD.N  and
Cigna  CI.N  when those companies faced pressure from prominent
agitators such as Elliott Management and Carl Icahn, the data
showed.
    Unlike announced mergers and acquisitions, many companies
that fend off activists do so quietly and do not want their
advisers making the situations public. This can create
discrepancies in the data gathered in the league tables. 
    Goldman Sachs advised on 18 public campaigns in 2018. In
2017 Goldman advised on six public deals, trailing Morgan
Stanley, Lazard  LAZ.N  and Raymond James  RJF.N , claiming the
fourth spot, Refinitiv data shows. 
    Lazard dropped to the number three spot in 2018, advising 16
companies. In 2017, a less busy year overall, Lazard advised 14
companies.
    Spotlight Advisors, founded by Greg Taxin, a lawyer who
worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Banc of
America Securities, made its first appearance on the list,
capturing the No. 4 four spot ahead of UBS, Citi, Raymond James,
Credit Suisse and Moelis & Co. 
    Activists were busier than ever last year and launched 500
campaigns, 5 percent more than in 2017. They pushed companies to
spin off divisions and asked for board seats, among other
demands.
    Consumer cyclical companies were the most heavily targeted
last year, Refinitiv said, with 90 campaigns in the sector. One
prominent campaign was at Campbell Soup Co  CPB.N , where Daniel
Loeb's Third Point tried to replace all directors and initially
pushed for a sale of the company.
    Elliott Management, which launched campaigns at BHP Billiton
Ltd, Qualcomm Inc, Bayer AG and Pernod Ricard last year, was
ranked as the busiest activist, having launched 27 campaigns in
2018.
    It beat out GAMCO Investors for the top spot.
    Starboard Value, ranked as the third-busiest activist with
11 campaigns in 2018. 
    Innisfree and Okapi were the top proxy solicitors, firms
hired to gather shareholders' votes, while Olshan Frome Wolosky
beat out two competitors to rank as the busiest law firm with
101 mandates working for activists.

 (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Dan Grebler)
 ((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 856 4331; Reuters
Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))