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2025 Activismo de Accionistas: resilient campaign activity and boardroom victories

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Contributor: Jim Rossman 
07 Jul 2025

Shareholder activists launched 129 campaigns in the first half of 2025, a strong showing amid increased uncertainty, though down 12% from 2024. Our Investment Banking Shareholder Advisory team’s H1 2025 Review of Activismo de Accionistas also tracks an increase in activists targeting small companies, muted European activity and greater success in securing board seats.

Download the H1 2025 Review of Activismo de Accionistas.

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1. Global campaign activity remains robust despite tariff and regulatory headwinds

Activists launched 129 global campaigns in the first half of 2025, down 12% from H1 2024’s record 147 but roughly in line with four-year-averages.

abril’s US tariff announcements added to the Q2 slowdown that typically follows the opening of most US company nomination windows in diciembre-febrero. However, with the exception of mayo, monthly activity largely tracked historical norms.

The US, Japan and UK were the busiest jurisdictions, accounting for 82% of campaigns. Outside the UK, European activity was more muted, down 26% from the four-year average.

The data also showed an activist focus on smaller companies. Firms with a market cap under $5bn made up 68% of targets, a five-year high, though $10bn+ targets remained consistent

2. Activist universe remains broad

Despite uncertainty, many investors continue to participate in activism – as 84 distinct funds launched campaigns year to date.

Following corporate governance reform, Japan continues to generate elevated activity, but not consistent activist wins. Seven of the 10 most active funds targeted Japanese companies, but concrete outcomes there remain elusive. Even when activists notch wins, board seats or other public concessions remain rare.

3. Campaign objectives reflect diverse activist focus

In an uncertain environment, many campaigns emphasised incremental improvements over transformational change. Strategy and operations remained an area of interest relative to its four-year average, continuing 2024’s trend.

In a more cautious M&A environment, particularly for dealmaking in small-cap companies, deal-related objectives appeared in 33% of all campaigns, significantly below the 45% four-year average.

Separately, sector concentration intensified: companies in the Industrials, Technology and Healthcare sectors accounted for 63% of campaign targets, up from 52% for the same leading trio in H1 2024.

Within those sectors, activist tactics reflected growing investor sophistication and diversification, ranging from spin-offs in tech, to industrial campaigns shaped by trade policy, to efforts targeting capital allocation inefficiencies in biotech and pharma.

4. Shifting pressures on management and proxy dynamics tilt the field

Settlements increased (36 vs. 26 in H1 2024), with half occurring before any public campaign announcement—a sign that behind-the-scenes engagement is yielding results. This contributed to an uptick in board seat wins: 86 YTD, up 16% on 2024.

Proxy advisors also became more assertive. The two leading advisory firms supported 69% and 85% of dissident nominees, respectively, more than doubling their H1 2024 rates of 29% and 37%.

Not surprisingly, proxy fights were more successful. In eight US contests that went to a vote, activists won seats in half, up from just 23% in H1 2024.

What to expect from activists in the rest of 2025

junio’s rebound and a tentative M&A pickup suggest a possible return to normalcy—one that could bring more first-timers back into the fray. Still, geopolitical and macroeconomic risks persist.

Assertive proxy advisors, combined with an increase in success in private negotiations, have helped sustain high Board win rates. However, further shifts in investor voting behaviour could disadvantage activists in contested elections going forward if investors come under political scrutiny

Finally, the line between activists and private equity (PE) continues to blur, as some activists partner with PE firms to catalyse sales, and some PE players even adopt activist-style tactics. That evolution may shape the activist universe further in H2 and beyond.

Download the H1 2025 Review of Activismo de Accionistas to see how the activist landscape has evolved in the first half of the year, and themes to watch out for as 2025 progresses.

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H1 2025 Review of Activismo de Accionistas

Important content disclosures

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Sobre los expertos

Jim Rossman

Jim Rossman

Global Head of Shareholder Advisory

Jim Rossman is Global Head of Shareholder Advisory, based in New York. Jim advises private and public companies on shareholder activism, raid defense, strategic investor relations, corporate governance, evaluation of strategic alternatives and capital allocation, and capital raising. He joined Barclays in 2022 from Lazard, where he was Global Head of the Shareholder Advisory Group, which he founded in 2013, and served as the Head of the Renewable Energy team in the Power, Energy & Infrastructure Group. With over 30 years of experience as both an investment banker and a corporate lawyer, and working with companies globally, Jim is a leading expert on the responsibilities of public company directors and the implementation of best practices in the context of preparing for and overseeing responses to hostile shareholder actions.

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