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6/17/2026

Japan’s LDP Mulls Transparency Rules for Shareholder Activists

Bloomberg (06/17/26) Terukina, Akemi; Sano, Hideyuki; Tamura, Yasutaka

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party is considering measures to make the behavior of activist investors more transparent and to help companies deal with the challenges they create, a lawmaker of the ruling party said in an interview. Fumiaki Kobayashi, a House of Representatives member who heads a project team on the issue, said the group aims to compile an interim proposal as early as July. The goal is to align Japanese company laws with global standards rather than “making Japan less welcoming to investments,” Kobayashi said. Shareholder activism has taken off in Japan amid a push by the Tokyo Stock Exchange for corporate governance reforms and a government drive to align company management and shareholder interests. Japan is now the world’s second-biggest market for public activist campaigns after the United States. Yet this has not been without pushback against what some companies see as opaque practices by some activists. The project team will discuss so-called “wolf pack” tactics, a strategy where investors act in concert while keeping their individual ownership stakes below disclosure thresholds, allowing them to build significant positions before their holdings are made public. This reflects a key concern that activists may be acting in cohort with private equity firms involved in management buyouts of companies that are being engaged by activists. The fear is that these funds may be pursuing their own interests rather than those of shareholders. “We want to actively welcome growth investment, and we want companies to pursue growth investment aggressively,” he said. “This is about creating the environment to make that possible.” The LDP panel will also consider measures to strengthen management capabilities as many companies are not in a position to adequately explain their medium- to long-term strategies when activists approach them with proposals, Kobayashi said. As one option, the team may ask the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to create a checklist template that companies should use to proactively assess their own preparedness, he added. The project team will also discuss proposed revisions to the Companies Act currently under consideration in a separate government panel. Issues include tightening the requirements for exercising shareholder proposal rights and curbing shareholder proposals, Kobayashi said.

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6/17/2026

New Ferretti Head Rejects Claims of Breach of Italy Golden Power Rules

Reuters (06/17/26) Pollina, Elvira

The new head of Italian yacht-maker Ferretti (BIT: YACHT) on Wednesday rejected arguments from the company’s second-largest investor over an alleged breach of golden power rules designed to shield strategic assets following a shareholder vote last month that appointed a new board. Czech investor KKCG Maritime urged the Italian government to act in the wake of a feud that saw Ferretti shareholders side with China's Weichai Group (SZ: 000338) to end Alberto Galassi's 12-year tenure as CEO, replacing him with Stassi Anastassov. "The problem is not a fact-based problem. Nothing has really changed. I am as independent as the previous CEO was," said Anastassov, a former Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) executive, during a press briefing in Milan. KKCG Maritime raised its stake in Ferretti to about 23%, aiming to confirm Galassi and reshape a board dominated by representatives of Weichai. The Chinese group has a 39.5% stake. Italy is investigating whether China-led investors breached golden power rules in place to protect strategic assets by not revealing their full shareholding to Italian authorities, three government officials have told Reuters. Anastassov said the company was not informed of any probe. "I am totally happy if there is an investigation because there is nothing and we would support any fact finding," he said. Anastassov also pointed out that the company has decided to shut down its small defense business in 2024 on the basis of a unanimous decision of the previous board. KKCG has said this division brought Ferretti within the scope of Italy's golden power rules. "We are not actively selling anything sensitive today," said the executive, adding that the company only has some maintenance contracts for patrol vessels it had delivered in the past remaining in place. "There is no order intake," he said.

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6/16/2026

Harwood Capital Pushing for M&C Saatchi Break-Up Builds Stake

City AM (06/16/26) Lyon, Ali

Harwood Capital has added to its stake in M&C Saatchi (LON: SAA) in a move that brings it a step closer to orchestrating a break-up of one of Britain’s best-known advertising companies. Harwood Capital now owns more than 8% of the eponymous agency founded by advertising tycoons Maurice and Charles in 1995, according to a stock exchange filing, and is understood to harbor ambitions to push through a mass disposal the media group’s constituent parts. The boutique investment firm began amassing a stake in the London-headquartered M&C Saatchi in 2020, but did not surpass the 5% threshold that forced it to declare its holding until last year. Since then, it has been steadily adding to its position, with its latest buying spree taking its stake above 8% for the first time. The fund is now pushing for the agency to kickstart a piecemeal sale of its various divisions – which range from lobbying and events management to traditional advertising and sports marketing – that it hopes will unlock significant value for shareholders. The approach resembles the playbook Harwood employed with Centaur Media, the former owner of trade media outlets like The Lawyer, that completed a fire sale of its portfolio companies earlier this year. Centaur now owns just one firm, having returned nearly £65 million to shareholders through the disposals under pressure from Harwood. The stripped back entity also quit the London Stock Exchange in April. Harwood’s offensive comes at a tumultuous period for M&C Saatchi, which has been forced to contend with a barrage of headwinds. The Aim-listed group’s shares have shed more than a more than a quarter of their valuation over the last 12 months, after the agency was swept up in a wider artificial intelligence-related sell-off of large advertising groups. Meanwhile, the Iran war has threatened to upend its industry-leading sport and entertainment division’s growth in the Middle East and further dent earnings in the already softening UK market. It has also faced several high-profile internal challenges, with former boss Zaid Al-Qassab standing down in April after less than two years at the helm. Major shareholder Vin Murria has simultaneously taken up a position on its board having previously spearheaded a £254 million hostile takeover approach for the agency. Any break-up would likely foreshadow the end of M&C Saatchi’s two-decade-long spell on London’s junior stock exchange, Aim, and mark the final chapter of one of Britain’s most recognized advertising agencies. It was founded in 1995 by Maurice and Charles Saatchi – along with several other senior colleagues – after the pair left their first agency Saatchi & Saatchi in an acrimonious boardroom spat.

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6/16/2026

Snap CEO Spiegel Defends Specs as Long-Term Bet, Pushes Back Against Irenic Capital Management Pressure

Reuters (06/16/26) Singh, Jaspreet; Soni, Aditya

Snap (SNAP.N) CEO Evan Spiegel told Reuters the company's new Specs augmented-reality glasses are part of its long-term strategy, pushing back on investor demands to shut down or spin off the cash-burning unit behind the device. The Snapchat parent launched the device, its first consumer AR glasses, on Tuesday at a price of $2,195 and pitched them as the future of how people interact with technology in the AI age. The launch comes months after Irenic Capital Management pushed Snap to consider options for Specs as part of a series of changes that the investor said could boost the social media company's worth by at least five times. Irenic has argued Specs should be funded on its own, noting Snap has already spent more than $3.5 billion on the unit. "While investors may want more short-term profitability, our job at Snap is to drive long-term profitability and the long-term success of the company," Spiegel said in an interview. "One of the things we've always been clear about as we've built Snap...was that we were committed to our long-term vision. And that includes staying independent rather than selling the company," he said. Spiegel said the company is expected to share "more later this year in terms of how we're thinking about partnerships over a longer period of time." The company carved out the unit as a standalone subsidiary in January, a structure that could let it raise outside funding.

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6/16/2026

Victoria’s Secret Investors Back Full Board After Proxy Battle

Retail Dive (06/16/26) James, Dani

Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSXY) shareholders voted to reelect all nine board director nominees the retailer put forward despite a proxy battle with BBRC International PTE Limited. Independent Chair Donna James was reelected with over 83% approval at the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, according to a company press release Thursday. The final voting results were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. “Today's outcome is a decisive statement of support for the current Board leadership from VS&Co's shareholders,” the intimates company said in a statement. “It also recognizes the substantial progress, outperformance and value creation delivered under the Path to Potential strategy and reaffirms shareholder confidence in our Board's continued oversight of that strategy.” BBRC filed a proxy statement to solicit votes against reelecting two independent Victoria’s Secret & Co. board directors — Donna James and Mariam Naficy — in May. The group, which is led by Brett Blundy, asserted James served an excessively long tenure and Naficy’s involvement in the acquisition of Adore Me was representative of poor capital allocation. Blundy partly achieved his goals in the proxy battle that ensued, with Naficy later deciding not to seek reelection. The company is conducting a search for a new director. Victoria’s Secret put forward a campaign to support the remaining directors, including James. The retailer also publicly released details of an extensive back-and-forth discussion with Blundy in the months leading up to the BBRC proxy battle wherein the company tried to find a solution to Blundy’s concerns. BBRC voted against all of the company’s board director nominees, except for CEO Hillary Super. Blundy previously said in a letter outlining the proxy fight that Super is “building a new” Victoria’s Secret and deserved a board suiting her goals. Victoria’s Secret previously dealt with BBRC in 2025 when the board adopted a poison pill in response to the “substantial accumulation” of Victoria’s Secret stock by BBRC.

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6/16/2026

GameStop Investor Brings Suit Over CEO’s $35 Billion Pay Package

Bloomberg (06/16/26) Willmer, Sabrina; Leonard, Michael

A GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) investor moved to halt a vote on a $35 billion pay package for the company’s chief executive officer until proper disclosures are made to shareholders. The lawsuit came in response to the board’s decision to grant CEO Ryan Cohen stock option awards that could lead to a multibillion-dollar windfall if certain aggressive milestones are met. Stockholders are set to vote on the pay package July 7. The proposed class action, filed in Delaware’s Chancery Court on Monday, says GameStop’s board repeatedly and illegally changed the procedures around the stockholder vote before issuing a misleading proxy statement aimed at suppressing the turnout by public investors. The changes included whether Cohen can vote his 9.3% stake and how to count abstentions. “GameStop’s audacious attempts to reduce the power of its disinterested shareholders — in contrast to its prior public statements and in disregard of its Certificate of Incorporation — must stop,” lawyers for the plaintiff wrote in the complaint. “Cohen may want $35 billion. That does not allow him and his board to disenfranchise stockholders and violate Delaware law along the way.” A GameStop spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Cohen initially invested in GameStop in 2020, producing one of the first “meme stocks.” He attracted attention for amassing a big stake in the struggling company and called it out for lagging behind the e-commerce trend. He joined the board in 2021 and later that year became chairman with a plan to turn around the company. Cohen then took the reins of the business in 2023 and is now the single largest stockholder. The proposed pay package would compensate Cohen with $35 billion if the company achieves a $100 billion market capitalization and $10 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. Cohen was asked in an interview with CNBC about whether the pay package motivated him to make a $56 billion offer this year for eBay Inc., an e-commerce company almost four times the size of GameStop. “I obviously want to build something much larger, but I don’t benefit unless shareholders benefit,” Cohen said in the interview. eBay last month rejected the unsolicited bid, describing it as “neither credible nor attractive.” Monday’s lawsuit says the company issued a press release stating the vote would exclude Cohen’s shares and that “unaffiliated stockholders” would decide the result. But the board allegedly reversed course and issued a proxy statement that mischaracterized what it had done. The moves will disenfranchise stockholders by allowing Cohen and other insiders to determine the outcome virtually on their own, with only about 15% support from public investors, according to the complaint. “The company is actively lowering the incentive” for unhappy shareholders to “bother with the cost and burden of blocking the Award,” attorneys for the plaintiff wrote.

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6/15/2026

Palliser Urges Taiwan Firm WUS to Privatize, Lift Value

Bloomberg (06/15/26) Du, Lisa; Lin, Miaojung

Palliser Capital is urging Taiwanese company WUS Printed Circuit Co. (TPE: 2316) to enhance shareholder value, including through a potential privatization, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg News. UK-based Palliser has built a 4.3% stake in WUS Printed Circuit and says the firm is trading at a more than 70% discount to its net asset value, according to a June 1 letter sent to the company’s board from Palliser. The hedge fund is asking the Kaohsiung, Taiwan-based firm to create an independent committee to evaluate options for boosting value — including going private or selling off its equity stake in another printed circuit board company, the letter said. WUS Printed Circuit, valued at about $900 million at Friday’s close in Taiwan, produces complex circuit boards that are in high demand amid the AI-driven expansion of data center infrastructure. The company also holds an 11.3% stake in WUS Printed Circuit Kunshan Co. (SHE: 002463), a supplier of boards to Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA). Palliser described the Kunshan stake in its letter as a “hidden jewel,” estimating it to be worth more than three times WUS Printed Circuit’s current market value. WUS also received another public letter from Singapore-based Metrica Partners Pte. about valuation issues. Mandy Lu, a spokesperson for WUS, confirmed the letter from Palliser. She said the company will liaise with both investors this week and pledged to strengthen communication with shareholders. WUS Printed Circuit currently has no plans to go private, as the purpose of such a move remains unclear, she said, adding that the firm is open to discussions. The company also has no plans to sell its shares in WUS Printed Circuit Kunshan, as the two entities are long-term strategic partners.

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6/15/2026

Elliott Said to Take Almost 5% Stake in UK Distributor Bunzl

Bloomberg (06/15/26) Gopinath, Swetha

Elliott Investment Management LP has taken an almost 5% stake in Bunzl Plc (LON: BNZL), according to people familiar with the matter, after a profit warning last year sent the UK distributor’s shares tumbling. Elliott is calling on London-based Bunzl to repurchase shares equivalent to as much as 10% of its total market capitalization over the next 12 months, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The investment firm is also urging the company to conduct a strategic review, with a focus on its North American business, its largest market, the people said. A more than three-decade streak of continual dividend growth helped the under-the-radar FTSE 100 Index constituent build a base of mostly long-term oriented investors. But a sudden profit warning last year aggravated a descent in the stock that has pushed the company’s market value down to £8.23 billion ($11 billion) from £12.6 billion in September 2024. Elliott wants Bunzl to deploy more of its free cash flow to step-up repurchases, after a recent slowdown in dealmaking activity as well as buybacks despite the slide in share prices, the people said. Bunzl bought back £200 million of its own shares through 2025, after repurchasing about £250 million in late 2024. Bunzl’s pace of acquisitions has also slowed, with the company completing eight transactions in 2025, down from 15 the previous year, according to its annual reports. The company’s North American business was behind last year’s profit warning, which it attributed to operational challenges. Bunzl has since announced leadership changes at the unit to improve its performance. Elliott believes separating the business, which operates independently and shares few synergies with the rest of the company, could help lift Bunzl’s valuation to a level more comparable with its competitors, which trade about 40% to 50% higher on a forward price-to-earnings basis, the people said. The distribution market in North America has attracted private equity interest from the likes of Advent, Bain Capital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, and Warburg Pincus.

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