Meagan Reda Quoted in Law360 on Shareholder Activism in Real Estate Entering a New Era

Olshan Shareholder Activism partner Meagan Reda was recently quoted in a Law360 article (subscription required) on what boards of directors in the REIT sector should expect from investors during the 2026 proxy season. Meagan explained that market conditions in 2026 are more conducive to M&A than in prior years, so we are likely to see activists pursue more M&A-related strategies, including pushes for asset sales, joint ventures, strategic review processes and outright sales of businesses.“I think this is particularly true because there are a lot of more well-capitalized buyers that have emerged and appear ready to transact over the last several months,” Meagan said. She commented that the REIT sector may also see more activists opposing deals they perceive as underpriced or carried out through a problematic process. A trend from the last few years is that more activist campaigns are playing out away from the public eye and concluding through behind-the-scenes settlements. “We are seeing these more informal resolutions,” Meagan said, “where it may be a director being appointed that was mutually agreed upon; the company and the activist work together on identifying one or more candidates; or an announced member review process, and it’s really just the form of a press release.” Meagan added that REITs that have faced activist campaigns before and continue to perform below shareholder expectations should expect continued pressure from activists this season. She went on to comment that one regulatory area activist shareholders and boards of directors will monitor in 2026 in the public REIT space and beyond is the federal government's potential actions on proxy advisory firms.