Israel Moves Up The Activist Agenda (Long And Short)

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Activists publicly targeted 12 Israel-headquartered companies in the past 18 months, as many as in the previous three years.

The maturing Israeli stock market has led to an influx of activist investors, according to a new study by Activist Insight.

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Israel’s abundance of companies in favorite activist sectors such as pharmaceuticals, biotech and software, as well as its open market, are likely reasons it has remained a popular source of targets. 70% of targets from the country were in the healthcare or technology sector (35% each).

Local practitioners told Activist Insight Monthly that dual-listed companies were the most likely to be targeted by foreign activists, but a growing domestic activism scene has both small and large companies feeling the heat. Just 35% of companies subjected to public demands since 2013 were targeted by foreign investors.

Shareholders have taken advantage of Israeli law, which allows 1% shareholders to nominate directors. 68% of demands were board-related, with only 9% M&A-related due to a sometimes protectionist culture. However, advisers familiar with proxy fights in the country say they can be contested – ending up in litigation.

Several secondary listings on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange have experienced activism of some form but are not included in the data, including pharmaceutical giants such as Perrigo and Mylan. Companies with significant Israeli operations that are incorporated elsewhere, including DSP Group, Zoran and Imperva, are also not captured by the data.

For similar reasons to the prevalence of long activism, Israel has also been a popular hunting ground for short sellers, who have launched 21 campaigns at companies headquartered there since 2013.

To read Activist Insight Monthly’s report, click here.

For any questions about the data, or if you have a follow-up request, please contact Josh Black here. Please note that bespoke data requests may take 24-48 hours depending on the amount of manual work required.

Companies publicly targeted by year 

Israel Activist Agenda

Note: Companies publicly targeted by long investors are counted only once per year, but may be counted in multiple years. The total number of Israel-based companies publicly targeted by long investors since 2013 is 23.

Short campaigns by year

Israel Activist Agenda

Note: Short-seller campaigns may include multiple short-sellers at each company per year. The total number of individual Israel-based companies targeted by short-sellers since 2013 is 15.

Breakdown of Israel-based companies publicly subjected to activist demands by sector since 2013

Israel Activist Agenda

Article by Activist Insight

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