FYI: Sometimes it may appear that big activist investors can’t lose for winning.
Consider the brief campaign waged by Carl Icahn against Cigna (ticker: CI) last summer. The longtime activist followed a familiar script: Move quickly, issue a blistering public letter, call on other shareholders to act.
After taking a significant stake in the company, the news of which soon surfaced, Icahn issued a statement calling Cigna’s plan to acquire pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts “a $60 billion folly.” He pledged to solicit votes against the deal from other shareholders.
In just six days, however, Icahn threw in the towel after two influential proxy advisory firms came out in support of Cigna. Still, shares of Cigna rose 16% while Icahn owned the stock.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.barrons.com/articles/investing-lessons-from-the-activist-playbook-51553076000
