Case Study — 5 Oct, 2023

A Corporation Clearly Pinpoints Activist Investor Activity

Highlights

The Customer: A large North American transportation company

The User: The IR team, C-Suite and Board of Directors lacked real-time visibility and executive-ready reporting to capture full economic exposure by activists.

A total of 1,026 investor activist campaigns launched in 2022, which is now the highest yearly total on record.

Customer Background

A large North American transportation company was faced with an activist investor that increased stakes in the company to take a position against strategic decisions believed to have led to a deterioration in value. Campaigns by activist investors who purchase stakes in companies to drive change have been on the rise, with numerous high-profile cases getting headline attention.

Challenge

Activists focus on a wide range of issues. They may question a company's long-term strategy, demand that certain business holdings be divested or criticize the stance being taken on environmental and social issues. Whatever the reason, the results can be highly detrimental for a company's reputation and financial standing. Given that the company was headed for a contentious proxy vote regarding its strategy, the C-Suite and Board wanted daily visibility into the shares being accumulated to fully understand the activist's potential influence. The head of investor relations (IR) needed real-time data to track unexpected shareholder movements.

Pain Point

Members of the IR team lacked real-time visibility and executive-ready reporting to capture full economic exposure by activists. They wanted shareholder intelligence that would provide:

  • Real-time alerts on indications of activist holdings and real-time trading updates on aberrational equity and options activity.
  • Executive-ready reporting and threat level analysis on key ownership movements.
  • Support for creating customized content for Board reports.

The IR team knew that S&P Global Market Intelligence ("Market Intellignece") was well-known for its visibility into the actions of activists and reached out to learn more.

The Solution

Market Intelligence specialists described several offerings that would help the IR team understand the motivations of people buying and selling the company's stock on a real-time basis and identify unexpected shareholder movements. This would give the IR team:

Real-time visibility into the actions of activists

 Activist Analysis & Reporting aligns industry-leading experience, data and technology to provide trusted advisory support and reporting on shareholder activist accumulations. Users can arm their teams with real-time visibility and executive-ready reporting that captures full economic exposure by activist actors, including equity, options and potential counterparty swap arrangements.
  • Market Intelligence specialists analyze $89B in activist equity assets daily to facilitate industry-leading activist portfolio visibility and best-in-class pattern recognition to track the who’s-who of shareholder activism.

Insight into the motivations of investors buying or selling stock

Stock Surveillance enables users to interpret shareholder movements, understand the ‘why’ that motivates investors buying and selling stock and receive proactive insights and explanations for unexpected shareholder movements.

  • The global Market Intelligence team provides real-time data and expert analysis along with trusted reporting to the Board and C-suite, as well as actionable recommendations on how to fine-tune an IR strategy.

Ability to navigate market volatility with confidence

S&P Capital IQ Pro empowers users to anticipate risk and confidently navigate changing markets through an integrated intelligence platform that brings together differentiated data, such as investor activism, sentiment analysis and real-time market data, market insights and tech-forward tools.

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