Activist Report Runs Doug Rappaport Q&A

13D Monitor’s The Activist Report has run “10 Questions with Doug Rappaport,” featuring the Akin Gump litigation partner’s thoughts on topics ranging from activist investors to ESG to proxy contests to the SPAC market, with various stops in between.

Among the highlights:

• ESG and activism: “The ‘G’—for ‘governance’—has his­torically been part of the activist game plan. Issuers with strong business mod­els but weak internal governance have always been ripe for activist interven­tion to effectuate change and create value.”
• SEC proposed rule amendments: “To put it charitably, these proposals are perplexing. While the SEC has paid lip service to supporting the interests of investors, the proposals shortening the deadlines for Schedule 13D initial filings and amendments appear to un­dermine the protection of shareholder interests and creation of shareholder value through engaged investing.”
• SPACs and activism: “Many activists have discovered that the essential skills that serve their engaged investing can be applied suc­cessfully to the SPAC space…Like any other under-per­forming issuers…some SPAC-merger entities that do not meet expec­tations may find themselves vulnerable to activist campaign.”
• Shareholder activism 10 years from now: “I hope and expect that more inves­tors will seek out ways to engage with issuers in an effort to create sharehold­er value and enhance the role that issu­ers in our economic and social fabric. I also expect that we will continue to see expanded activist initiatives outside the US, as investors in other markets re­alize engaging with issuers can effectu­ate change and create value.”

To read the full Q&A, click here.