Activist Investors’ Influence on Companies

The growing presence of activist investors in Germany challenges companies with a confrontational style and broad demands. This article analyses the Anglo-American capital market phenomenon in the context of companies’ corporate governance and their shareholder structure. We examine the valuation effects of activist campaigns using share price reactions. The short-term announcement returns surrounding activist campaigns are positive and statistically significant. The mean abnormal share price return amounts to 3.96%. The results can be attributed to a combination of transaction and information effects.