By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Several advisers who have guided blue-chip companies including AT&T and Procter & Gamble for more than two decades in boardroom fights with activists including Elliott Investment Management are launching a proxy solicitation and corporate governance firm.
Senpoint Partners will reunite former top executives from prominent rivals Morrow & Co, Sodali & Co, D.F. King and MacKenzie Partners to advise companies and hedge funds on hot-button issues ranging
from who sits on boards to corporate mergers, the four founders told Reuters.
The New York-based firm could shake up the tight-knit proxy solicitation industry at a time when more pressure from activist investors and a booming dealmaking environment are requiring increased outreach to shareholders, modeling of vote projections and tracking of returns, bankers and lawyers said.
Senpoint's founding partners are: Ron Knox, a former CEO at Morrow & Co; Ed McCarthy, the former head of M&A and Activism at D.F. King; Paul Schulman, the former co-head of M&A and Activism Advisory at Sodali & Co and a former managing director at MacKenzie Partners; and Geoffrey Weinberg, a trained lawyer who previously worked at law firm Weil Gotshal and is the former head of retail shareholder advisory at Sodali & Co.
They said they will begin work on Monday as the next proxy season gets underway.
Michael Verrechia, another leading adviser who was co-head with Schulman of M&A and Activism Advisory at Sodali, will join in January after his working restrictions end, two people familiar with the matter said. Verrechia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sam Geoffroy, also a MacKenzie alumnus, will lead Senpoint's stock surveillance operation, which tracks investors buying company shares and derivatives, often an early warning for a possible activist campaign.
The new firm will compete with established solicitors Innisfree M&A, Okapi Partners and MacKenzie.
"This is a proven team that combines experience in solicitation with legal and financial backgrounds," said Eduardo Gallardo, global co-chair of Mergers and Acquisitions at law firm Paul Hastings. "With so much activity going on, there is room for another top-notch firm to come in and compete."
Knox, Schulman and McCarthy started their careers together in the 1980s, and the group, including Weinberg, became close when the men were involved in a bitter vote recount, called a "snake pit," after billionaire investor Nelson Peltz pushed for one board seat at Procter & Gamble in 2017.
"We are able to learn from each other's experiences and have built a stock surveillance system from the ground up with the latest technologies, including AI," Schulman said in an interview. "So we're not relying on legacy systems and practices."
Co-founder Ed McCarthy said Senpoint partners are known for their past activism and high-profile M&A work where many merger votes are now being challenged. At Senpoint, he said, the firm will work with companies of all sizes.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Will Dunham)
