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9/17/2025

Elliott Takes More Than $2 Billion Stake in Workday, Backs Leadership

Reuters (09/17/25) Meenaktshi, Harshita; Tanna, Shivani; Kaur, Gursimran

Elliott Management said on Tuesday it has built a stake of more than $2 billion in human resources software provider Workday (WDAY), while expressing support for the company's leadership. Elliott praised Workday's chief executive officer and chief financial officer, citing strong progress in recent years and describing its management team as proven and effective. The investor added it was pleased with its dialogue with the company and expressed confidence that the multi-year plan outlined at Workday's Financial Analyst Day would drive significant long-term value for shareholders. In a separate statement, California-based Workday welcomed Elliott's support, but did not elaborate on any specific initiatives. Meanwhile on Tuesday, Workday announced a $1.1 billion deal to buy artificial intelligence (AI) firm Sana, its third AI-related deal in less than two months, following the acquisition of Paradox and Flowise in August. The company is navigating intensifying competition in the crowded HR software sector, as rivals ramp up acquisitions to secure market share and embed the booming AI tech into their offerings in meet evolving customer demands.

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9/17/2025

Private Hospitals Group Spire Faces Investor Calls to Explore Sale

Sky News (09/17/25) Kleinman, Mark

Spire Healthcare Group Plc (SPI), the private hospitals operator, is facing calls from leading investors to put itself up for sale. Shareholders including Achilles, an activist investment trust co-founded by the prominent City fund manager Christopher Mills, want Spire to explore talks with potential bidders. Sources said that Achilles, which holds roughly 5% of Spire's shares, was among a number of investors who believed the company was significantly undervalued. Spire runs 38 hospitals and more than 50 clinics, medical centers, and consulting rooms across the UK. It is the largest provider of hip and knee operations in the country. Run by Justin Ash, chief executive, the company is chaired by Sir Ian Cheshire. Achilles, which is managed by Robert Naylor, is understood to have communicated its wish for the company to hire advisers to run a formal sale process. Spire has a market capitalization of close to £820 million, although its real estate assets alone have been valued at more than £1.4 billion. The company has told investors that it is committed to delivering value for shareholders. "The Board will continue to actively evaluate and implement any appropriate action that drives long term shareholder value," it said alongside results in July. It was unclear on Wednesday whether any formal approaches had been received by Spire's board.

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9/17/2025

Workday has Just Drawn an Activist Investor. Is it the Catalyst the Workplace-software Stock Needs?

MarketWatch (09/17/25) Ji, Christine

Several Wall Street analysts raised their outlooks for Workday Inc. (WDAY) ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell, citing a new stake by activist investor Elliott Management and a recent acquisition that could help make the company more competitive in the artificial-intelligence era. Workday shares jumped 9% in morning trading Wednesday, and investors will be looking to see whether that sparks a prolonged reversal from the stock’s year-to-date doldrums. Heading into Wednesday’s session, the stock had shed 13% over the course of 2025 as investors worried that the rise of AI would disrupt its traditional business of selling human-resources software. Now an activist is getting involved. Elliott Management announced an over $2 billion stake in Workday on Tuesday and praised the company’s management for positioning Workday as an industry leader. Workday also announced plans to acquire the artificial-intelligence startup Sana for $1.1 billion during its Tuesday investor day. Guggenheim analyst John DiFucci took a brighter view of the stock in the wake of the investor day. He wrote that Workday “is a better positioned company today than it was a few years ago,” as he upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and introduced a price target of $285 on Wednesday. DiFucci highlighted the company’s efforts to increase engagement with partners, expand internationally and aggressively build out AI capabilities both in-house and through inorganic methods. The Sana deal marks Workday’s third AI-related acquisition in two months, a move DiFucci said he believes will make the company’s offerings more competitive with AI-powered search and agents. Elliott’s stake is likely to boost Workday’s stock in the near term, but DiFucci said he isn’t sure whether an activist investor is what the company needs at this point, as the company has posted progress on its own already. “Workday was already working to lower expenses and increase growth,” the Guggenheim analyst wrote. If Elliott encourages aggressive cost-cutting measures or other initiatives that deter growth, Workday’s business could suffer in the long term, he cautioned. “In fairness to Elliott Management, we are unaware of the successful investor’s specific intent at this time,” DiFucci added. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said he believes the Elliott stake could “add healthy pressure” for Workday to boost its free cash flow. Workday has been shifting its focus from revenue growth to margin expansion, which Thill thinks sets a “more achievable bar” for the company. Thill reiterated his buy rating and $325 price target. While AI agent adoption is in the early stages, Needham analyst Scott Berg sees green shoots for Workday, he said. He pointed to a growing portion of Workday revenue coming from existing customers. The company is successfully selling them new AI features and cross-selling products from its recent acquisitions. This strategy now accounts for roughly 60% of growth, up from 50% a year ago. Berg reiterated his buy rating and $300 price target.

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9/16/2025

Performance Food, US Foods Agree to Evaluate Potential Deal

Bloomberg (09/16/25) Townsend, Matthew

Performance Food Group Co. (PFGC) and US Foods Holding Corp. (USFD) reached an agreement to share information on a potential combination that would create a distribution firm with roughly $100 billion in sales. The companies will evaluate regulatory issues and cost savings of a deal, according to a statement. The accord doesn't assure a transaction will be proposed, Performance Food said. It was reported earlier this year that US Foods had begun pursuing a takeover of Performance Food, but the board of Performance Food didn't engage in talks, citing risks including regulatory approval. Performance Food rose about 5% in premarket trading on Tuesday, following a 23% gain this year. US Foods was little changed, after an 18% advance in 2025. In recent weeks, board members of Performance Food engaged with several of its large shareholders, the company said. It also began talks with US Foods during this period. In August, it was reported that activist investor Sachem Head Capital Management had privately nominated candidates to the board of Performance Food and wanted the distributor to consider a merger with US Foods.

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9/16/2025

Activist Investors Take a Stake in Denny's

Restaurant Business (09/16/25) Guszkowski, Joe

A pair of activist investors have taken a 9.4% stake in Denny’s (DENN) with plans to work with management to boost the chain’s share price. According to an SEC filing Tuesday, serial activists JCP Investment Management and Jumana Capital Partners now own 1.6% and 7.8% of the family-dining chain’s shares, respectively. The two Houston-based firms previously teamed up to take a large stake in Red Robin (RRGB) last year. At Red Robin, JCP and Jumana were able to get seats on the board after investing $8.3 million in the chain to help pay down debt. JCP is owned by James Pappas, the son of Chris Pappas, the former CEO of Luby’s Cafeteria and current CEO of Pappas Restaurants. In the filing, JCP and Jumana said they believed Denny’s stock was undervalued and that they plan to work with Denny’s leadership and board to find ways to improve its value. They did not go into detail about what that strategy might entail. Denny’s stock has fallen more than 20% over the past 12 months, to $5.18 a share. It was down more than 6% on Tuesday afternoon. South Carolina-based Denny’s is in the midst of a turnaround effort aimed at improving traffic. But it has struggled this year. Same-store sales declined in the first two quarters, and the company is expecting to finish the year between negative 2% and positive 1% same-store sales growth. It has found a bright spot, however, in 74-unit Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, the growth concept it acquired in 2022. Same-store sales rose 4% at Keke’s last quarter.

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9/16/2025

Dye & Durham Shares Sink as Filing Delay Threatens Turnaround

Bloomberg (09/16/25) Hughes, Stephanie

Dye & Durham’s (DYNDF) shares plunged after the legal software provider said it will miss the deadline for submitting its annual report, adding another hurdle for a company that has already faced pressure from an activist shareholder this year. The stock dropped as much as 22% on Tuesday, the deepest intraday decline since its public listing in 2020. That briefly brought its share price down to a low of C$8.10 ($5.89). “The filing delay will add to the issues that have been weighing on the stock, which have included its financial leverage, a challenging macro backdrop, competitive concerns and management turnover,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Thanos Moschopoulos said. The move comes after Dye & Durham launched a strategic review in late July — including a potential sale — following a truce with one of its major shareholders, Plantro Ltd. The investment firm controlled by former Dye & Durham Chief Executive Officer Matt Proud agreed to withdraw its demand for a special shareholder meeting in exchange for putting veteran accountant David Danzinger on the board to oversee the review. The company, which sells software solutions to legal and business professionals, after the close on Monday said it would be unable to file its financial statements for the fiscal year ending in June by the Sept. 29 deadline. Management said the issue was related to a review letter by the Ontario Securities Commission sent in July that raised concerns about how Dye & Durham tests for goodwill impairments and discloses certain purchases in its financial statements. Dye & Durham said it is working with advisers and the regulator to confirm the impacts on its finances. The firm said it doesn’t expect any impact to previously reported results. “While this development might weigh on the stock in the near-term, we’re not expecting this development to impact our forecasts,” BMO’s Moschopoulos wrote in a client note. The delay would put Dye & Durham into technical default under its existing senior debt obligations, giving the company 30 days to rectify the issue, Moschopoulos said. Monday’s news wasn’t “unexpected” since interim Chief Financial Officer Sandra Bell is new to the company, said Raymond James analyst Stephen Boland. “On the matter of possible impairments, this is also not a new issue,” Boland said, adding that it was mentioned on past conference calls. “Additionally, the company has publicly stated it is repricing its customer contracts, which can give rise to impairments.”

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9/15/2025

Swiss Regulators Accused of Pushing UBS Out of the Country

finews.asia (09/15/25)

Switzerland’s government, central bank, and financial regulator are under fire, as Cevian co-founder Lars Förberg accuses them of trying to drive UBS (UBSG) out of the country. Meanwhile, UBS executives have reportedly held talks in the US about a potential strategic shift. "The Federal Council, the SNB, and Finma are full of smart people. They are well aware that the proposed extreme capital requirements would compel UBS to leave. They just don’t want to say it out loud," Lars Förberg told the NZZ am Sonntag. Förberg’s attack is not without self-interest: Cevian is one of UBS’s investors. He argues that the proposed regulations squander UBS’s strong position. To remain competitive, the bank’s only option would be to switch regulators – in other words, to leave Switzerland. Ensuring competitiveness, he stresses, is the duty of every board of directors. Cevian has calculated the cost of the tougher capital rules. The conclusion: the additional requirements would lead to annual capital costs of $6.5 billion, equivalent to 20% of UBS’s total costs. Förberg likens the measures to tariffs: "Unlike, say, the 39% U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods, these rules target UBS alone, as the only bank in the world affected. That massively undermines its competitiveness. We all complain about U.S. tariffs, yet at the same time we’re shooting ourselves in the foot by deliberately crippling our biggest bank’s global competitiveness." Just last Monday, Switzerland’s lower house rejected a motion that would have delayed debate on stricter capital rules. That would have helped UBS in the short term by sparing it from having to cut dividends and buybacks. Förberg, who has also invested in Baloise, already voiced his concerns in February about a drastic tightening of capital requirements, as reported by finews.ch. But he insists he is not opposed to stronger banking oversight in Switzerland as such. Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that UBS leaders met with officials in Donald Trump’s administration. The topic: how to counter Switzerland’s tougher capital requirements, possibly through a strategic shift. Options reportedly under discussion include acquiring a U.S. bank or pursuing a merger, according to unidentified sources cited by the newspaper.

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9/15/2025

Exxon to Offer Auto-voting to Counter Shareholder Activism

Reuters (09/15/25) Dang, Sheila; Kerber, Ross

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is introducing a unique shareholder voting mechanism that will allow retail investors to automatically cast ballots in step with board recommendations during annual meetings, a move that may help the top U.S. oil producer fend off activist campaigns. On Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a letter that it would not object to the plan from Exxon as long as the company met certain conditions, including providing annual reminders to investors who opted into the mechanism about their participation. The SEC's response could prompt other companies to follow suit. The oil major has fought back aggressively against activists in recent years, and could shore up more support from its unusually large base of retail shareholders - who typically have lower turnout rates but vote overwhelmingly in support of Exxon's board. Individual investors currently "lack access to numerous services that make voting fast and easy for larger institutional investors. Activist groups often exploit this gap to push political goals at the expense of shareholder value," Exxon said in a statement. In the coming weeks, retail investors will be notified through their brokerages that they can enroll in a free program to vote their shares in line with management recommendations, Exxon said in a statement. If investors change their minds, they can override the program and cast their votes manually according to instructions in the proxy materials. Exxon said it is the first U.S. company to offer such an option. "As a matter of fairness, it's time to level the playing field," the company said. Nearly 40% of the company's shares are held by individuals but just a quarter of them vote during proxy season, though they mostly support the board, Exxon said. Retail investors hold about 30% of most large U.S. companies. They are a sought-after pool when companies face close board elections or campaigns for ideologically charged shareholder resolutions. Only a few other iconic U.S. brands approach Exxon's level of retail ownership, including Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA). Exxon has faced several high-profile activist shareholder campaigns tied to climate issues in recent years, notably in 2021 when three dissident directors were elected to its board. Last year, it continued to pursue litigation against activist investors Arjuna Capital and Follow This, even after the groups withdrew their proposal calling on Exxon to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. In a statement in May last year after a judge dismissed Exxon's lawsuit against Follow This, founder Mark van Baal said Exxon was attacking the rights of all shareholders to put forth proposals about emissions, the cause of climate change. Exxon's most recent annual meeting in May featured no qualifying shareholder resolutions for the first time since 1958, following its aggressive campaign against resolution-filers. In the statement, Exxon noted a number of top fund managers have created similar options allowing their investors to vote with corporate boards, although the fund firms also allow users to select other policies like choices that support more climate and social measures. During an energy conference in Austin on Friday, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the company wanted to stop activists from submitting the same proposal year after year. "My view is, if you're going to play that game, we can play too," Woods said.

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9/15/2025

YouGov Seeking Internal Hire as Next Chief Executive

The Times (London) (09/15/25) Powell, Emma

An insider is being sought by YouGov Plc (YOU) to become its next chief executive after its previous boss, a former Meta executive, failed to fully understand the pollster’s “unique culture” and abandoned its growth strategy. Steve Hatch left abruptly in February after the company shed almost 60% of its value during his 18-month tenure. Stephan Shakespeare, the chairman and co-founder, was parachuted back in on a temporary basis. The company, which has made its name as a well-regarded indicator of voter intentions, is understood to be searching internally for a chief executive that will revert back to the strategy set out at its 2023 capital markets day, namely scaling up, and better integrating, its various data products and services. A decline in data products revenue last year prompted YouGov to warn on profits, sending the shares down 40% in just one day. Just before Hatch’s exit, the company said data products had returned to “low single-digit growth” on an underlying basis, over the six months to the end of January, after declining by 1% during the previous financial year. Hatch remains a shareholder in the company. YouGov runs large “panels” that inform companies about the consumer perception of their brands or advertising strategies, which includes surveying a couple of thousand people a day about a range of preferences. It is thought to have been felt by the board that under Hatch, who previously led the northern European arm of Meta Platforms, owner of WhatsApp and Instagram, the company had lost focus, and that its €315 million acquisition of GfK Consumer panel at the start of last year was poorly integrated. The company is in the process of overhauling its sales function, reversing changes that had been made to unify its teams, and changing the incentive structure to push more sales of its Brand Index, a standardized subscription product. It is also seeking to expand further in North America. YouGov was co-founded by Shakespeare in 2000, alongside Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor. It recently strengthened its board by appointing Ian Griffiths, a former finance chief at Kantar, and Belinda Richards, a senior partner at Deloitte, as non-executive directors. Shakespeare has previously counted himself out of taking on the chief executive role permanently, saying in March that there was “absolutely no timeline” for appointing a permanent successor to Hatch. Shakespeare and his family retain a stake of about 8% in the company. The departure of Hatch came after Gatemore Capital Management, which had a 1.3% stake in the company, had called for Hatch to be replaced and for the company to seek a private buyer. The company, which is listed on London's junior Aim market, was previously thought to have been eyeing a potential move of its stock market quote to America, which is its biggest market. However, that is now understood to have taken a back seat while it attempts to revive sales growth.

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