June 29, 2026

European A&M Activist Alert

Shareholder activism has become one of the most influential forces shaping corporate strategy, capital allocation and value creation across Europe. In an environment where investors are increasingly willing to challenge management teams and boards, understanding activist priorities has never been more important.

ACCESS THE LATEST AAA REPORT

For nearly a decade, Alvarez & Marsal's Activist Alert (AAA) Series has provided boards, executives and investors with data-driven insights into the evolving activist landscape. Combining proprietary analysis with A&M's hands-on experience advising companies through periods of transformation and heightened shareholder scrutiny, the series identifies emerging trends, vulnerable sectors and the issues most likely to attract activist attention.

Trusted by corporate leaders across Europe, the AAA Series helps organisations anticipate challenges, strengthen performance and prepare for increasingly demanding investors.

The question is not whether shareholder expectations are evolving—it is whether your organisation is ready to stay ahead of them.

The A&M Activist Alert (AAA) reports provide a comprehensive analysis of shareholder activism trends across Europe and the United States, offering insights into evolving market dynamics, activist strategies, and corporate responses.

In 2026 we launched the U.S. AAA report, our first Activist Alert publication with a U.S. perspective. This inaugural U.S. edition explores the rise in activism post-2024 elections, the role of M&A, and the concept of an Equity Story—a strategic narrative that aligns corporate performance with investor expectations.

Click here to access the AAA Report for the United States.

Access all of the A&M Activist Alerts for Europe

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Review of 2025 and outlook for 2026

The creative disruption being generated by artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitical turmoil, and competition from Chinese corporates increasingly moving up the value chain, is presenting both opportunities and challenges. Shareholders will be looking for European corporates to capitalise on the opportunities and mitigate the challenges.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Interim Outlook for 2025

The 2025 interim outlook focuses on the relationship between market volatility and shareholder activism. While campaign volumes have temporarily declined, A&M's analysis finds a clear historical connection between periods of market disruption and subsequent increases in activist activity. The report shows that activism typically rebounds several months after volatility peaks, suggesting that the current slowdown is only a short-term pause.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Review of 2024 and Outlook for 2025

The fourteenth edition of the AAA explores how shareholder activism continues to evolve amid geopolitical uncertainty, low European valuations and increasing cross-border investor activity. The report finds that while public campaigns remain an important tool, many investors are increasingly engaging in private, active dialogue with companies to drive value creation without the visibility of a public campaign.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Interim Outlook for 2024

The June 2024 AAA update examines the continued acceleration of shareholder activism across Europe as improving market conditions create new opportunities for investors to push for change. The report highlights growing confidence within the activist community, supported by stabilising equity markets, increasing interest in M&A opportunities and a stronger focus on capital allocation, operational performance and shareholder returns.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Review of 2023 and Outlook for 2024

The twelfth edition of the AAA report combines an assessment of activist success with a forward-looking outlook for the European market. A&M's analysis of more than 550 activist campaigns finds that, on average, companies targeted by activists outperform the wider market over the subsequent two years, suggesting that activism can act as a catalyst for meaningful value creation.

Activist Alert for Europe | Interim Outlook for 2023

This interim outlook finds that momentum is steadily building across Europe's activist landscape. After a subdued start to the year, campaign activity increased each month through the first half of 2023, while the number of investors pursuing activist strategies continued to grow.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Forecast and Outlook for 2023

The tenth edition of the AAA report examines a temporary lull in activism caused by macroeconomic uncertainty while forecasting a strong resurgence during 2023 and into 2024. Although campaign volumes declined during 2022, the report finds that the number of activist funds operating in Europe continued to grow, suggesting increasing pressure would return once financial visibility improved.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Interim Outlook for 2022

The 2022 interim outlook assesses the impact of geopolitical uncertainty, inflation, supply-chain disruption and the war in Ukraine on shareholder activism. While public campaigns temporarily slowed following the invasion of Ukraine, A&M argues that the underlying drivers of activism remain intact and are likely to intensify as markets regain stability and corporate underperformance becomes more visible.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Forecast and Outlook for 2022

The 2021 AAA report forecasts what it describes as a "golden age" for shareholder activism in Europe. Having identified a growing number of companies at imminent risk of public campaigns, the report argues that improving corporate visibility and abundant activist capital will drive a significant increase in activity throughout 2022 and beyond.

A&M Activist Alert for Europe | Interim Outlook for 2021

This interim outlook provides an update on activist trends as European markets emerged from the acute phase of the pandemic. The report identifies 157 corporates at heightened risk of activist targeting and highlights a growing expectation that public campaigns would accelerate as economic conditions stabilised and performance differences became more visible.

December 2020

Published against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 AAA report assesses how unprecedented disruption reshaped the activist landscape. While public campaigns slowed significantly during the crisis, the report argues that this represented only a temporary pause. A&M identifies 161 European companies at heightened risk of future activism and predicts that activists were quietly accumulating positions while waiting for greater visibility to return.

December 2019

The fifth edition of the AAA report looks ahead to 2020 and identifies a changing activist landscape shaped by expanding activity across Continental Europe and the growing influence of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. The report highlights 158 companies at significant risk of activist attention and reveals a compelling relationship between ESG performance and activist vulnerability, with lower-rated companies more likely to attract investor scrutiny.

April 2019

The April 2019 edition examines the rapid spread of shareholder activism across Continental Europe, with France, Germany, Italy and Spain all showing increasing concentrations of companies vulnerable to activist campaigns. While the UK remains the largest activist market, the report finds that investor attention is becoming more widely distributed as activism gains acceptance across European boardrooms.

November 2018

The November 2018 AAA report examines how shareholder activism continues to mature across Europe, with investors broadening both their geographic focus and the range of issues they challenge. Building on previous editions, the report identifies nearly 150 companies at elevated risk of activist intervention and highlights the growing importance of governance quality, operational performance and capital allocation in determining vulnerability.