Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice Ranked No. 1 Legal Adviser to Activist Investors Worldwide – Sweeps All League Tables and Publications

NEW YORK, March 17, 2021 - Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP announced today that its Shareholder Activism Practice has once again been named the leading legal adviser to activist investors around the globe in the Refinitiv 2020 Global Shareholder Activism Scorecard, a position it has held since the inception of the rankings. The top ranking from Refinitiv is the latest in a series of accolades from the leading influential sources on activist rankings and league tables, including FactSet’s Flashwire Advisor Quarterly, the Bloomberg Activism Advisory League Tables and the Activist Insight Activist Adviser Awards, all naming Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice as the leading legal advisors for shareholder activism.

“Despite the challenges presented by the global pandemic Olshan continued to not only lead the industry as the top law firm for shareholder activists in activist campaigns by the numbers but also continued to act as a leading industry catalyst and innovator in the evolution of shareholder activism as we drove emerging issues forward,” said Andrew Freedman, co-head of Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice. 

Freedman continued, “Recent events have made clear that public companies are ripe for change in many areas and shareholder activists will substantially drive that change. One of the biggest areas of opportunity that we have drawn attention to are issues related to environmental, social and governance practices (ESG’s), as activist investors strive to not only increase value but also to create more sustainable, better functioning public companies.  Olshan’s Shareholder Activist lawyers are at the leading edge of this issue, among others, and we have seen a tremendous uptick in activist activity over the past several months that we expect will swell into 2021.”

According to the Refinitiv Global Shareholder Activism Scorecard, Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice led all legal advisors, by number of campaigns, with 85 during full year 2020. This accounts for 29% of all activist campaigns advised on by the Top 10 legal advisors in the space in 2020 and 38 campaigns more than its next closest competitor. In fact, over the past five years Olshan has advised on more than 450 shareholder activism campaigns, according to Refinitiv statistics.

Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Practice has consistently received top rankings across the board in every league table and publication that covers shareholder activism, including most recently:

• In January 2021, ranked #1 in the “Law Firm” category by FactSet’s Flashwire Advisor Quarterly through the 4th Quarter of 2020. The report highlights Olshan’s continued supremacy of the shareholder activism market as the top law firm to activists, having advised on more campaigns than the next twelve highest-ranked firms combined.
• In January 2021, named the leading legal adviser to activist investors around the globe in the Bloomberg Activism Advisory League Tables, the definitive publication of Activism advisory rankings. According to the league tables, Olshan advised on 119 activist engagements with stakes worth $14.8 billion in 2020, creating an impressive gap between the next highest ranking law firms having only 42 and 16 campaigns, respectively. Notably, Olshan is also ranked #1 Top Activist Adviser by Sector in 11 of the 12 industries outlined in the report.
• In December 2020, ranked as the #1 law firm in shareholder activism in the Activist Adviser Awards for 2020 as part of its December publication, a position Olshan has held since the inception of the awards and for the sixth consecutive year. Activist Insight Monthly noted 97 activist campaigns for Olshan with total average market cap at $4.6B.  Activist Insight Monthly commented as part of its report that, “Once again, Olshan Frome Wolosky placed first for total representations in our law firm rankings, representing activists in the largest number of campaigns for the sixth year in a row.”

Additional top rankings include: Chambers 2020 USA for “Leading Lawyers” in Corporate/M&A: Shareholder Activism; The Legal 500 US 2020 as an elite Tier 1 Leading Firm in M&A/ Corporate and Commercial: Shareholder Activism and individual recognition of five of the practice’s lawyers, including three elite Tier 1 Leading lawyers; U.S. News-Best Lawyers® for “Best Law Firm” and “Best Lawyers” in Securities/Capital Markets; and in Super Lawyers® 2020 New York Metro for Mergers & Acquisitions, Securities & Corporate Finance, and Business/Corporate.

About Olshan's Shareholder Activism Practice Group

Olshan's Shareholder Activism Practice Group is widely recognized as the premier practice worldwide in representing activist investors. The Group has unparalleled experience in counseling clients on a wide variety of activist strategies, from proxy contests, consent solicitations and hostile takeovers to letter-writing campaigns and behind-the-scenes discussions with management and boards of directors.

About Olshan

Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP, a law firm based in New York, represents major businesses and entrepreneurs in their most significant transactions, problems and opportunities. Olshan’s clients range from public companies, hedge, venture capital, private equity and other investment funds to entrepreneurs and private companies worldwide. Clients choose Olshan for innovative strategies and sophisticated, game-changing advice in corporate, securities law, equity investment and shareholder activism, complex commercial, corporate and securities litigation, real estate, intellectual property, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, and advertising. Since its founding, Olshan has offered an alternative to the AmLaw 50 law firm business model with responsive, independent and client-focused legal counsel provided by the firm’s senior lawyers.