Activist investors are limbering up to make trouble once more
FOR the past two years activist investors have been strangely quiet. The financial crisis slashed the value of their equity investments. Many scaled back or even closed shop. But there are signs that shareholder activists, who take stock in a handful of companies and press them to change their inefficient ways, are finding their voices again.
On November 23rd Carl Icahn, a particularly bold member of the breed, and Seneca Capital, a hedge fund, blocked a $4.8 billion buy-out of Dynegy, an energy company, because, they said, the price was not high enough. Their boardroom victory scuppered what would have been one of the largest buy-outs of the year. Company bosses are now looking around nervously, wondering which other activists may re-emerge from the shadows.
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