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Activism in Europe: Leading from behind
歐洲的激進主義:后來居上
A quiet activist hedge fund finds success behind the scenes.
一家低調的激進對沖基金在幕后取得成功。
“Sclerotic companies abound in Europe,” says Christer Gardell, co-founder and managing partner of Cevian Capital, an activist hedge fund based in Sweden.
總部設在瑞典的激進維權投資基金(Cevian Capital)的聯合創始人兼管理合伙人嘉戴爾(Christer Gardell)說:“公司的僵化在歐洲隨處可見。”
That is an uncommonly pugnacious statement for a firm that operates behind the scenes and uses public pressure as a last resort.
對于一個在幕后經營并以公共的壓力為最后手段的公司來說,這是一個異常好戰的聲明。

Unlike its louder American peers, such as Bill Ackman's Pershing Square, Paul Singer's Elliott Management or Dan Loeb's Third Point, Cevian has never written a pointed open letter to a chief executive or waged a proxy battle (although Carl Icahn, an activist who has been known to call bosses “morons”, is one of its investors).
不像比爾·阿克曼的潘興廣場,保羅·辛格爾的艾略特管理公司以及丹尼爾·洛布的第三點管理公司那些大名鼎鼎的美國同行們一樣,Cevian從未向首席執行官寫過一封明確的公開信或發起代理戰(盡管卡爾·伊坎,一位以稱老板為“蠢貨”而出名的活動家,是其投資者之一)。
Its calm approach seems to suit corporate Europe.
其冷靜方法似乎適合歐洲企業。
Cevian is the region's largest activist fund, and one of the world's biggest, with over $15.4bn in assets.
Cevian是該地區最大的維權基金,也是世界上最大的維權基金之一,擁有超過154億美元的資產。
It was founded by Mr Gardell and Lars Forberg in Stockholm in 2002; both still run it.
它由嘉戴爾和拉爾斯·福伯格兩位于2002年在斯德哥爾摩創立的;兩位現在仍掌管著它。
Its “constructive” activism, focusing on only a dozen companies at a time, goes back to the founders' time as chief executive and chief investment officer of Custos, a listed investment firm, in the mid-1990s.
它的“建設性”行動主義,即一次僅僅集中于關注十幾家公司,追溯到20世紀90年代中期擔任上市投資公司Custos的首席執行官兼首席投資官的創始人時期。
Although European corporate governance is often compared unfavourably with America's, Mr Gardell says it has many advantages.
盡管歐洲公司的治理往往比不過美國的公司,但嘉戴爾說它具有很多優勢。
American management largely controls the process for nominating new board members, so an activist fund may need to wage a loud campaign just to get a seat at the table.
美國管理層主要控制提名新董事會成員的過程,因此維權基金僅僅獲得會議的一席之位都可能需要發動大力宣傳才行。
In the countries where Cevian operates, its typical ownership stake of 5-20% is enough to easily, or even automatically, get a board seat.
在Cevian運營所在的這些國家中,典型的5-20%股權足以容易地,甚至自動獲得董事會席位。
That said, it operates mainly in the Nordic countries, Britain, Germany and Switzerland, regarding governance in the wilds of southern Europe as too unpredictable.
即便如此,它主要在像北歐國家以及英國,德國和瑞士運營,因為在南歐偏遠地區的治理具有不可預測性。