Activists launched 55 campaigns against companies in the industrials sector in H1 2023, according to Bloomberg data. Although this made it the busiest sector, consumer discretionary wasn’t far behind, with 53 campaigns launched in H1.
Three of the top five legal advisers on both the company and activist sides of consumer discretionary activism campaigns met or exceeded their 2022 engagement totals in H1 2023 alone. If activists keep up this pace, top law firms may see a considerable uptick in their workload advising companies on activism in the sector this year.
And if the consumer discretionary sector keeps this momentum going, it could bump industrials out of the top spot by the end of 2023 like the tech sector did to industrials last year.
Top Firms Counseling Companies
For H1 2023, the top five global legal advisers for consumer discretionary companies facing activist challenges were Sidley Austin, Vinson & Elkins, Latham & Watkins, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
Both Skadden and Wachtell have already exceeded 2022’s engagement counts in H1 alone, and Vinson & Elkins has met 2022’s counts.
While Sidley’s and Latham’s engagement counts are still just behind last year’s totals, these two firms took the No. 1 and No. 2 slots for company-side engagement count in 2022—signaling that more activity could be on the way.
Top Firms Counseling Activists
The top five global legal advisers for activists in their campaigns against consumer discretionary companies were Olshan Frome Wolosky, Iwaida Law Office, White & Case, Schulte Roth & Zabel, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
The activist-side legal space is largely dominated by Olshan, which has led activist-side engagement across all sectors since at least 2019. If Olshan keeps the momentum from H1 going through H2, this year’s numbers for the consumer discretionary sector will surpass last year’s numbers.
With six months left in the year and two engagements needed to surpass 2022’s relatively low engagement count, Schulte—which took the No. 2 slot for activist-side engagements since at least 2019—will likely surpass last year’s numbers.
Iwaida Law Office, White & Case, and Wilson Sonsini have already surpassed 2022’s engagement levels in the sector.
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