As Mets slugger Pete Alonso almost said, October is for playoff baseball, pumpkins and laying the groundwork for 2025 proxy fights.

While one activist foot-faulted out of the gate last weekend, prognosticators are expecting a surge in M&A related activism campaigns in early 2025, says The Deal’s Ron Orol. At the National Associate of Corporate Directors Conference this week, White & Case Partner Kimberly C. Petillo-Décossard predicted a “significant increase” in M&A-related activist demands post-election, pointing to a “more receptive market” for deals.

Deal junkies may not have to wait long to see an uptick, as Bloomberg’s Crystal Tse noted that we’ve seen two straight “Merger Mondays”. Over $43 billion worth of M&A deals were announced, and that was before Couche-Tard revealed on Wednesday that it had increased its takeover bid to acquire Seven & i Holdings to nearly $47 billion. In response, the Japanese convenience store owner revealed that it plans to spin off some assets and reorganize its portfolio to stave off Couche-Tard’s takeover offer.

Be in touch if you are attending or want to attend the Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance, an increasingly must-go conference on the governance circuit, on Nov 12-13 and our cocktail party on Nov 11th.

Have a great weekend and an easy fast for those observing Yom Kippur,

GPP team 

CNBC: Hedge Fund D.E. Shaw Nominates Three Directors at Air Products, has $1 Billion Stake

David Faber and Rohan Goswami report that, in addition to the nominations, D.E. Shaw is pushing the industrials company for operational changes. The news comes after it was reported last week by CNBC that another activist, Mantle Ridge, also has a $1 billion stake in the company. Read More

S&C’s Critical Insights: Lessons from the 2024 Proxy Season, Part 2

On the latest episode of Sullivan & Cromwell’s podcast, Marc Treviño, Melissa Sawyer and June Hu focus on shifting 2024 proxy season trends, including a steady decline in social, political and environmental proposals, and tips for how companies should prepare updated bylaws in 2025. Listen Here

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Financial Times: OpenAI Pursues Public Benefit Structure to Fend Off Hostile Takeovers

Cristina Criddle and Patrick Temple-West report that OpenAI is considering transitioning to a public benefit corporation, which requires companies to consider non-shareholder stakeholders’ interests on par with shareholders. Read More

Bloomberg: Inside Activision and Blizzard’s Corporate Warcraft

Businessweek excerpts Jason Schreier’s new book, “Play Nice,” about the palace intrigue between video game executives Bobby Kotick of Activision and Mike Morhaime of Blizzard. Read More

M&A

The Wall Street Journal: Rio Tinto to Acquire Arcadium Lithium for $6.7 Billion

The deal is part of the London-listed mining company’s efforts to expand its portfolio beyond its core mining business. Read More

Bloomberg: Chevron Sells Canada Oil Sand, Shale Assets for $6.5 Billion

Chevron seeks to build a war chest in its fight with Exxon for Hess, and the divestment will allow the company to narrow its focus and geographies, writes James Herron. Read More

Decanter: The Duckhorn Portfolio Agrees to $1.95 Billion Sale

Food and beverage-focused buyout shop Butterfly Equity revealed it plans to take the Napa-based wine producer and maker of Decoy wines, among others, private at $11.10/share in a $1.95 billion transaction. Read More

FROM OUR DESK TO YOURS

GPPers enjoyed a fantastic night in Chelsea at the annual Chefs for Kids Cancer dinner on Tuesday, an organization near and dear to our heart. The fundraiser featured a range of New York’s finest culinary talent –  we were feted by Four Twenty Five’s Jonathan Benno – all contributing to an incredibly important cause. We look forward to next year!

GPPers also got to enjoy the electric atmosphere at Citifield Wednesday night to watch the Mets’ dramatic playoff victory against the Philadelphia Phillies, sending the Grimace-loving team to the NLCS. Our own Amy Lipin made a cameo appearance on the MLB Network’s social channels with her Mets flag below cheering Francisco Lindor’s game winning Grand Slam! #LFGM! 

PEOPLE MOVES

• Former U.S. Secretary of State and climate envoy John Kerry joined green investment group Galvanize Climate Solutions, founded by Tom Steyer. Read More
• Bank of America named Eamon Brabazon the co-head of global M&A after nearly a decade of running the unit in Europe and EMEA. Read More

• October 12: MacDougal Street Mambo Block Party, New York
• October 22: 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit, Manhattan 
• November 12-13: 2024 Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance, San Francisco

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