Success of Shareholder Activism: the French Case

This aim of this study is to distinguish which features of shareholder activism lead to a successful outcome in the French context. Shareholder activism is considered herein as a process consisting of a series of influential activities. We examine cases of confrontational activity from the point at which the conflict first becomes the object of media attention. Using data collected in the French financial press from January 1989 to June 2008, we look at the cases of 203 French corporations which have been the target of criticism on the part of activist shareholders. To gain an accurate measure of success in French shareholder activism processes we examine to what extent shareholders have been able to achieve their objectives, and what degree of influential activity has been involved. Our results reveal, throughout the period studied, a striking correlation between successful outcomes and the most confrontational influential degree: the law suit. We also observe that, since the changes in the French activist landscape brought about by a legal enforcement of minority rights in 2001, the involvement both of activist institutional investors and proxy professionals has also been significant factor of success.