Activist Happenings #1
"More than 50% of all investments today are passive like index funds. Our strategy is built upon finding great companies that have lost their way and help them succeed again." - Bill Ackman
We are starting this inaugural update (targeting monthly depending on how fast activists are moving around the world) to keep ourselves abreast of the developments in the world of shareholder activism. Do check in regularly!
Global Developments
Harley Davidson (HOG US, Market Cap: USD2.9bn, PER: 6.9x PBR: 0.9x) : The iconic motorcycle maker was targeted by activist H Partners. The fight turned public and ugly this earlier this year. HOG then announced a strategic partnership with KKR and Pimco to unlocks USD1.3bn of cash by turning Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) into a capital-light and derisked business but will continue to originate and service retail loans. Substacker Brian Coughlin had written about HOG. His note: https://substack.com/home/post/p-158709249 (written in Mar 2025 before the activist campaign was public.)
Philip 66 (PSX US, Market Cap: USD49.3bn, PER: 14.5x PBR: 1.8x) : Elliott launched a public campaign earlier this year arguing company has under-performed for many years. Company fought back and things culminated into the AGM proxy battle with both sides getting two of their nominated directors voted in. The saga continues. Elliott’s deck: https://www.10xebitda.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Elliott-Management-Phillips-66-Natural-Resources-Elliott-Phillips-Presentation-11-Feb-2025.pdf
Smith + Nephew (SN UK, Market Cap: USD13.4bn, PER: 32.6x PBR: 2.5x) :
Activist Cevian Capital has pressured the company to spin off its orthopaedic business and management fought back with a 12-Point Strategic Plan. So far, not much dirty laundry in the public but this is one of UK’s high profile activist name for 2025. Finota Deep Dives wrote a piece on SN.Tripadvisor (TRIP US, Market Cap: USD1.9bn, PER: 47.0x PBR: 3.9x) : Both Starboard and Palliser have bought TRIP after its share price languished for years, performance consistently trailing that of its peers. The activists pointed to a decline in the company's core brand revenue, which stood in contrast to the growth seen in its subsidiary businesses such as Viator and TheFork. Fellow substacker N.R98 has written a good piece on TRIP several months ago.
While global developments are interesting, activism in the US, and to some extent Europe, has metamorphosized into a post-investing phase with legal battles, proxy fighting strategies dominating limelights. It is hard to do fundamental analysis on binary legal or governance decisions. As such, we move on to the more tangible investment ideas in Asia!
These updates are not fresh off the newswire but recent enough, mostly happenings in 2025. Going forward, we hope keep up to speed and appreciate readers to flag out the latest ideas too!
Korea and Japan Activist Developments
In July 2025, we sat down and wrote down all the large cap Japan activist related names in this post. Today, let’s focus on some new developments in both Korea and Japan.
Coway (021240 KR, Market Cap: USD5.5bn, PER: 12.8x PBR: 2.4x) : Coway is durable goods rental company renting out air purifiers, toilet bidets and mattresses, doing a decent business in Korea until gaming company, Netmarble came along, snapped up 26% and caused some corporate governance issuce. Activist Align Partners then came in and tried to sort things out. Align Partner’s Deck on Coway.
Fujitec (6406 JP, Mkt Cap USD3.0bn, PER: 25.4x, PBR: 2.9x) : We highlighted this name in our Japan Large Cap List in July. Nikkei reported Swedish fund EQT taking the company private for USD2.7bn which is below its current market cap. EQT previously also bought Benesse, another Japanese doing education. It has been a long journey for activists Oasis and Farallon, fighting the owner and all. This win goes to activists.
Mitsui Soko (9302 JP, Mkt Cap USD2.0bn, PER: 28.2x, PBR: 2.5x) : Warehousing subsidiary of Mitsui Group. We missed this in the July large cap list. This is not a brand new activist stock name but Japanese newswires got excited when 3D Investment Partners raised its stake from 8% to 9%. That said, share price has rallied quite nicely over the past 12 months. Warehouse names in Japan used to be really cheap but at close to 30x PER, perhaps this trade is over. (Sumitomo Warehouse (9303 JP) is still cheap though.)
Hogy Medical (3593 JP, Mkt Cap USD0.7bn, PER: 35.1x, PBR: 1.5x) : Company makes surgical kits in Japan and has been “in play”. In the recent results meeting, Hogy Medical’s management remarked that going private was on cards and stock price went limit up on 25th July. Otto Oehring knows this name well and has written interesting stuff on Japan.
TechnoPro (6028 JP, Mkt Cap USD3.5bn, PER: 24.6x, PBR: 6.4x) : This is a technology-focused staffing company that activists have circled. Orbis, a global investment firm headquartered in Bermuda, has a publicly disclosed 8.6% stake. On 5 Aug 2025, Nikkei leaked that Blackstone plans to take TechnoPro private in what could be the largest acquisition by an investment group of a listed Japanese company this year.
Activist Newsletters / Podcasts / Videos
Shareholder Activism Weekly by Michael Koeger is super informative. The last update was in May, hopefully we get another one soon!
Herbert Smith FreeHills Kramer’s new podcast series simply called Shareholder Activism. The newest episode discussed Reckitt (which is our portfolio name) and Rio Tinto, main competitor of BHP (another or our portfolio name). Here’s the Spotify link for Shareholder Activism.
Shareholder Primacy: Amazing podcasters discussing the latest and greatest in the US. Best listened on Spotify but they are also on substack!
2024 video (c.10 min) featuring Bill Ackman discussing his activist strategy. This is good stuff, not to be missed!
The Fun Section
This last section has nothing to do with activist stock ideas, it’s fun and jokes to end the post. Enjoy!
Created with ChatGPT:
1.
Shareholder: “What’s the five-year vision?”
CEO: “In five years, we’ll look back and say, ‘Wow, that vision really worked out for us.’”
2.
Shareholder: “Why does the annual report use so much jargon?”
CEO: “If you understood it, you might not approve the budget.”
3.
Corporate Governance
We take corporate governance seriously:
Board meetings are held quarterly… at golf resorts, for focus.
Independent directors are selected through a rigorous process called “Being friends with the CEO.”
Shareholder concerns are reviewed annually at the AGM. Then we give them free food and they forget about it.
Huat Ah!
This post does not constitute investment advice and should not be deemed to be an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments.