WEBINAR: Shareholder Activism: Investing in a Stronger Corporate America

On Wednesday, July 29, 2015, 12:30-1:30pm EDT, Olshan will present the webinar Shareholder Activism: Investing in a Stronger Corporate America. CLE credit will be available for this complimentary program which will offer an inside look behind the scenes of the continued upsurge in shareholder activism. Headlines have been filled with stories about activist investors pressing companies for changes. Shareholder activism is arguably the greatest preoccupation of America’s boardrooms. Olshan’s Activist & Equity Investment practice group has been on the frontline of this wave with the largest number of activist campaigns and shareholder engagements in the space invariably over the past few years. In this webinar we will share some of our unique insights from the trenches of recent activist campaigns.

Subjects to be discussed include:

• Bolder activist campaigns target larger, sometimes well-performing companies in which activists hold smaller percentage stakes, yet continue to generate successful results
• Changing campaign strategies, structures and mechanics have a profound impact on corporate governance and company responses to a shareholder activist campaign
• How to effectively navigate the new context of Board/Shareholder engagement

The presentation will end with a brief Q&A session.

Who should be listening?

• Investors in public companies interested in activist strategies
• Service providers, experts and observers of shareholder activism

The speaker will be Steve Wolosky, from Olshan’s Activist & Equity Investment practice, which was recently named by the Wall Street Journal, in conjunction with FactSet SharkRepellent, the No. 1 legal advisor to activist investors in 2014. Reuters also named Olshan as one of the two top firms that “have come to dominate the activism market.”

Bruce Goldfarb of Okapi Partners, a proxy solicitation, information agent and specialty advisory firm, will join Steve to provide a proxy solicitor’s perspective.

Steve Wolosky is a pioneer in shareholder activism and spearheaded Olshan’s Activist & Equity Investment Practice more than 20 years ago. Today, he is one of the leading lawyers in the country advising hedge funds and investment partnerships on activist situations in the United States and worldwide. Steve has led over 400 proxy contests for board representation in his career, and most notably, Steve led the preeminent proxy contest of 2014 representing Starboard Value’s unprecedented, “extraordinary” victory in its election contest against Darden Restaurants, Inc. The Deal Pipeline recognized Steve as one of the “best-known names” in shareholder activism, and Reuters highlighted him as a “go-to” lawyer for activist investors. The Activist Report, a monthly newsletter by 13D Monitor, describes Steve as “...a top choice of many hedge funds and activists...” noting his unparalleled experience in counseling clients on a wide variety of activist strategies. Steve also advises clients in negotiating mergers and acquisitions and hostile takeovers of public companies; represents public and private issuers of debt and equity securities, purchasers and sellers in mergers, stock and asset transactions, and investment funds in their formation, capital raising and investment transactions; and counsels corporate clients in corporate planning and structuring activities, corporate governance matters, dealings with stock exchanges, and public company compliance matters.

Bruce Goldfarb is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Okapi Partners. He works closely with a wide range of clients including corporations, mutual funds, activist investors and shareholder groups as well as private equity sponsors and hedge funds, in solicitation and investor response campaigns. He focuses on proxy solicitation strategy, execution for mergers and acquisitions, proxy fights and other extraordinary transactions. Prior to establishing Okapi Partners, Bruce was the Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Georgeson Inc. (now a subsidiary of Computershare Limited), where he headed the Global M&A Advisory Group. Before entering the proxy solicitation business, Bruce was a Senior Vice President of the investment management firm, Scudder, Stevens & Clark, now a part of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management unit. He joined Scudder as a member of the Legal Department where he concentrated on transactions, including those involving mergers and acquisitions, international matters, alternative investment vehicles, off-shore funds and closed-end funds. Bruce also served as an executive officer of various closed-end funds advised by Scudder. He was the Chairman of Scudder’s Proxy Review Committee and served as the point person for the Scudder Funds proxy solicitation effort relating to the acquisition of Scudder by Zurich Financial Services Group.

REGISTRATION

Click here to access this event on demand.

You will receive confirmation and reminders by email, each of which will contain a link to the program and a downloadable calendar entry with the pertinent details.

CLE

In order to receive CLE credit for the webinar you are required to click all of the participation pop-ups that will appear throughout the program. You must also be registered and view the webinar under your own email address. CLE certificates will be forwarded to you by email from Olshan upon successful completion of the webinar requirements.

This seminar has been approved in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 1 credit hour in the area of Professional Practice/Practice Management and is appropriate for experienced attorneys only.

MATERIALS

Materials for this presentation can be accessed here.