M&A Update: Highlights From 2015 And Implications For 2016

A record-setting year for M&A deal activity, 2015 also yielded several important legal decisions and highlighted significant trends that are likely to influence M&A market participants in 2016 and beyond.

Increased Activism

Stockholder activists launched over 360 campaigns in the U.S. in 2015, which is more campaigns than were launched in any other year on record. Moreover, target companies have shown an increased willingness to engage with activist investors. Indeed, in 2015, approximately 117 target companies agreed to appoint activist investor nominees to their board of directors through either settlement of a proxy fight or mutual agreement without the need for commencement of a proxy fight. In addition, funds managed by activists increased to more than $120 billion as of the end of 2015, which is almost twice the amount under management in 2012. Campaigns involving DuPont Co., Apple Inc., General Electric Company and Qualcomm Incorporated signal that activists