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Laissez les bon temps rouler! We want to give a last call for readers to take our 2026 Tulane Market Survey, and we look forward to sharing the results and seeing many of you down in the Big Easy in a few weeks.

While the Frozen Apple digs out of yet another massive snowstorm with the support of our comrades earning $30 an hour, activist funds have kicked off their spring campaigns as familiar faces take aim at issuers undergoing periods of dislocation. Scott Barshay and Carmen Lu of Paul Weiss note the range of activist demands likely to reverberate throughout the 2026 proxy season — mid-cap buyouts, PE sponsor reinforcements, portfolio simplification, and 'bumpitrage' around announced corporate M&A.  

New Jersey’s most famous émigré, Appaloosa’s David Tepper is putting Whirlpool through the spin cycle. His letter to the appliance maker’s board after this week’s secondary share sale called the moves unnecessary and dilutive, while suggesting the company “explore partnerships or potential mergers with disadvantaged foreign competitors” given the elevated tariff environment.

Elsewhere, in the category of you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, Ed Garden’s eponymous fund nominated a slate of directors to the staggered board of Fortune Brands, while calling for a replacement to the incoming CEO Amit Banati before even taking the seat. The coming months will unveil what other tools activists draw from their belt.  

Finally, amidst the latest “SaaSpocalypse” doom and gloom thanks to a viral Substack from Citrini Research, we wanted to leave you with some positive news: Citadel says we’re just fine, and after some internet sleuthing and co-author Alap Shah later confirming to Bloomberg – Shah’s fund Lotus is short a handful of the names mentioned in the report. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Have a great weekend,

GPP Team

Reuters: Exclusive: Elliott woos shareholders backing Toyota Industries buyout, sources say

The activist is reportedly offering to buy shares in the forklift truck maker from investors who have agreed to a tender offer and are backing Elliott’s take-private bid. Read More

The Deal: Penn Entertainment Rolls Dice with HG Vora Board Deal

Penn Entertainment announced it has expanded its board to add three new directors as part of an agreement with HG Vora, which in turn agreed to drop its pending lawsuit against the gaming company. Read More

CNBC: The global M&A boom is rolling into 2026 as AI sparks deal frenzy — but cash is getting tight

While artificial intelligence demand continues to drive transaction volume coupled with lower borrowing costs, the funding pool for M&A has tightened amid competing demand from other areas such as dividends and buybacks. Read More

Bloomberg: Warner Bros. Says Paramount’s $31 Per Share Offer Tops Netflix

After reengaging with Paramount Skydance following an improved all-cash bid, Warner Bros. board determined the Ellison crew’s $31/share bid is “superior” to the Netflix offer. In post-market news on Thursday, Netflix responded with a press release in which the company declined to up its offer. Read More

Financial Times: Gilead to buy cancer drug developer Arcellx for up to $7.8bn

Gilead Sciences agreed to acquire Arcellx, the latest example of pharmaceutical groups increasingly targeting smaller biotech companies with clinical-stage therapies that can be brought to market quickly, write Patrick Temple-West and Oliver Barnes. Read More



Freshfields: SEC Adds Flexibility to M&A, Proxy, and Tender Offer Rules with New Interpretations – Not All of the Implications of Which Are Apparent on Their Face

Freshfields partner Ethan Klingsberg walks through the SEC’s revised Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations from January, highlighting material changes and how public companies can benefit from the policy shifts in M&A and contested election situations. Read More

The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Why Would the SEC Silence Shareholders?

In response to the SEC Chairman’s recent decision to defer nonbinding shareholder proposals to state law, writers Steven Rothstein and Peter Flaherty opine that the change is contradictory, and that markets perform better when shareholders can weigh in on businesses without political interference. Read More

The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Government Is a Risky Shareholder

Opinion writer Robert Pozen discusses the federal government's move to take stakes in public companies, arguing it can create an "uncertainty premium" for those equities in question. Read More

Talks at GS: Board Governance in 2026: AI Oversight, Activism, and Delaware’s Edge

Larry Cunningham, Director of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, joins the show to celebrate the institution's 25th anniversary and how board stewardship has evolved. Listen Here

Jonathon Zytnick: Shareholder Voting Power

In a new paper from our friend Jonathon Zytnick at Georgetown University Law Center, he evaluates how much voting power a given ownership stake actually confers to the holder, particularly in light of Delaware’s recent overhaul to controlling shareholder doctrine. Read More



IPO

The Wall Street Journal: AI-Induced Tech Selloff Spoils the IPO Parade

Corrie Driebusch notes that IPOs were predicted to boom this year, but AI anxiety has shrunk investors’ appetite for new listings, leaving bankers expecting a year dominated by only a few mega IPOs. Read More

Bloomberg: SpaceX’s Mega IPO Redraws 2026 Road Map for Listing Hopefuls

While Elon Musk is planning what could be the largest IPO in history, some investors are concerned that smaller upcoming offerings won’t get their due attention as a result. Read More



FROM OUR DESK TO YOURS

This week, the GPP team ventured downtown to SoHo for an early dinner at The Corner Store, from the restauranteurs behind Catch Hospitality Group.

We started where any visit should — the cocktails. The Sour Cream & Onion and Chamomile Vesper martinis were both fantastic, and while we switched to a RouteStock Napa Cabernet with our meal, we watched enough tables enjoy the tableside Martini Service to make it a priority next time.

For food, we opened with a five-cheese pizza rolls before splitting a prime aged ribeye with Dutch asparagus, heirloom roasted rainbow carrots, and French fries ordered "the works" — the standout of the table, sauce on the side highly recommended.

The same group is behind the impossible-to-get-into The Eighty Six and brand new Or'esh — a David Rockwell-designed restaurant offering what they describe as "essential dishes" from around the city. We'd have a hard time disagreeing.



PEOPLE MOVES

• Latham & Watkins added Mark Stagliano and Emily Johnson from Wachtell. Read More
• Josh Easterly, Sixth Street co-founder and co-chief investment officer, will retire in June. Read More
• The Raine Group has hired former Credit Suisse capital markets leader Anthony Kontoleon as a partner. Read More

• March 3-4: Bloomberg Invest – New York, NY 
• March 6: University of Delaware’s 2026 Corporate Governance Symposium – Newark, DE
• March 19-20: Tulane Corporate Law Institute – New Orleans, LA 
• April 13-17: Semafor World Economy – Washington D.C. 



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