Alvarez & Marsal releases its inaugural U.S. Activist Alert Report, examining the market forces shaping shareholder activism in 2026, from rising M&A pressure to increased investor scrutiny, and what boards can do to stay ahead.

Heightened market volatility and growing institutional demand for client-centered and dedicated portfolio valuation advisory services accelerate global expansion.

We set out six success factors—clear strategy, no stop‑start execution, lean principles, proactive risk management, stakeholder alignment, and transparency with technology—and show how early regulator and supplier engagement, outcome‑based contracts, and vendor quality gates convert decommissioning into a performance‑driven capital programme.

Financial distress is accelerating and becoming more entrenched across European businesses as mounting macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures eroded both earnings and balance sheet resilience in 2025. The latest A&M Distress Alert highlights 13.5% of companies in Europe are now classified as distressed, the highest level since at least 2022 and up from 8.6% in 2024.