Nicholas Pettifer
Staff writer
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| "Hedge fund is still one of those labels that carries a level of opprobrium" |
Michael Walter is head of corporate at Herbert Smith, based in the London office. Here, he gives his views on the results of the Corporate Counsel Poll. While he broadly agrees with the analysis of the in-house lawyers interviewed, he does have concerns.
While corporate counsel may feel better equipped to deal with activist hedge funds, they shouldn't relax. On average alternative investors are more interested in buying minority stakes than they were a year ago; but they won't be any less active. Some companies may have mistakenly decided that they are better at handling hedge funds because activism is subdued and so easier to deal with. They may well be caught out when the market recovers.
Walter also tries to explain the greater importance of vendor due diligence among corporate counsel. M&A...