DealLawyers.com Blog

Barclays’ latest review of quarterly activism developments covering the second quarter and first half of 2026 was released earlier this month. Activity was up, and the U.S. was driving that trend. Here are some key takeaways:

– 68 [U.S.] campaigns were up 13% year-over-year (60 in H1 2025) and represented half of total activity

– A record 52% of all H1 campaigns were at Industrials and Technology companies

– Sector concentration is rising as activists increasingly target companies exposed to AI-linked disruption, spanning direct adoption and adjacent infrastructure themes

– The top 10 activists – led by Elliott and followed by other serial activists, such as Oasis, Dalton, Irenic and Palliser – accounted for 41% of all H1 campaigns

– In a divergence from recent trends, 72 unique activists launched campaigns in H1 2026 – meaningfully lower than the four-year H1 mean of 97

– M&A demands were the most prevalent H1 campaign objective at 39% of all campaigns, driven by a 63% sequential spike in Q2

– Meredith Ervine