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B. G., Opalesque Geneva:

Between 2018 and 2021, the number of activist campaigns fell steadily worldwide. But activists have benefited from the stagnation of big businesses recently. This gives them plenty of targets.

According to Lazard's 2022 review of shareholder activism, new campaign activity in 2022 represented a 36% increase YoY and the busiest year in the last four years. Each quarter in 2022 saw a material YoY increase in new campaign activity, with Q4 marking the second busiest single quarter in the last four years after a record-setting Q1.

Technology was the most frequently targeted sector, representing 21% of activist targets worldwide; the extraordinary decline in valuations created a timely environment for activists who approached the sector in record volumes, especially in the US where the Technology sector accounted for 27% of 2022 campaign activity.

Silicon Valley presents a juicy target, reports The Economist; Tech stocks' future profits look less attractive as interest rates rise, and a fall in the Nasdaq has allowed activists to get discounted prices. (The Nasdaq Composite was down 14% in the last year and is currently up 15% YTD.)

Take for example Salesforce, a profitable tech company whose ......................

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