Innovation in Origination
In 2025, private equity ostensibly found itself running short of its most treasured supply: receptive acquisition candidates. Out of this dilemma, an old kind of dealmaking was reborn. One such case happened to be documented in a preliminary proxy statement in October of 2025. In this proxy, a curious reader could see, perhaps for the first time, how an engaged owner (what some might call an "activist") and a third-party family office partnered with a private equity sponsor to purchase a public company. And given its success, it likely won't be the last time we see a story of this kind.
For many reasons.
Demand and Supply
The surging demand for, and the diminishing supply of, transactable businesses has demonstrated that the throughput of M&A has its limits even in the world’s foremost economic powerhouse: the United States of America. It used to be when an issuer said "no", private equity would shrug and move on to the next conversation; after all, there were plenty of other candidates who might say "I do".
The story is much different today. In both the public and private marketplace, deals are increasingly scarce relative to those pursuing them.
On the public side, it may surprise many that the modern public corporation itself has become an endangered species. According to Michael Mauboussin’s 2023 piece, Birth, Death and Wealth Creation, the population of U.S. public companies has shrunk by more than 3,000 (40%) since 1996.
On the private side, we see an array of sponsors clutching their treasured assets, enabled by the Cambrian explosion of continuation vehicles, NAV loans, collateralized fund obligations and private credit. These structures, heavily endorsed by the Alternatives-Industrial-Complex, all contribute to one thing: they help sponsors to hang onto their portfolio companies longer, exacerbating the existing deficit in supply.
Meanwhile, demand is charging ahead. As of 2025, PE "dry powder" topped two trillion dollars (Prequin). This is a new state where the value of effective dealmaking starts to go non-linear.
On the private side, we see a proliferating ecosystem designed for the origination and distribution of deals: The fundless sponsors. The SPV-squared/cubed. The podcaster-VC's and the VC-podcasters.
On the public side, we something equally interesting.
The New Private Equity
In the small cap public equity market, we are seeing a kind of dealmaking that is driven by a figure that has a unique right to its origination: the Engaged Principal. An owner who not only sees a new future for a company, but who also has the right combination of relationships and resources to make it happen.
In 2024, we saw some early hints of the convergence between private equity and institutional-tier "activist" investors. Jana Partners partnered with Cannae. Corvex Management partnered with Joe Costa to create Corvex Private Equity.
Fittingly, in 2025, it was Corvex who deftly embodied this convergence in its creation of, and participation in, the take-private of Heidrick and Struggles (HSII), with Advent as lead.
Of course, the privatization of a company by an activist is hardly new. Elliott is a lead actor in this domain and has the Lucite to back it up. But it is clear that Corvex's HSII deal marks an upward bend in the trajectory of engaged ownership, standing as proof that the right idea and the right relationships are more important than size. Courtesy of Keith and Joe, we know for certain that an ‘activist’ principal no longer has to be an 11-figure hedge fund in order to privatize a public company. They simply need like-minded private equity relationships.
And these continue to be materializing in the market.
In fact, this year, Irenic Capital (led by Adam Katz, a former Associate Portfolio Manager at Elliott) made a meaningful hire in precisely this direction. Following Irenic submitting a takeover bid in February to the board of one of its portfolio companies, Reservoir Media, Adam shared with Liana Baker at Bloomberg that private equity professional E-Fei Wang has joined him from Apollo to lead Irenic's relationships with the sponsor community. In addition to all of this activity, Irenic added another leg to its stool, pricing a USD$220mm SPAC, Irenic Acquisition Corp in late April.
The bottom line is that for any investor looking for more 'value unlock' in their investments in this 'broken market,' the convergence of public and private markets should be welcome news.
From Outsiders to Orchestrators
An "activist" shareholder used to be understood as some renegade market actor. The reality of today’s "shareholder engagement" ecosystem stands in clear contrast to this dated narrative. Thanks to decades of modernization and its direct connection to value creation, shareholder engagement has gained widespread institutional support and has become one of the fastest growing alternative public market strategies.
The fact that engaged ownership of public companies is moving beyond the institutional investment arena further validates this common-sense approach to ownership; some of today’s newest engaged owners are among the best-regarded corporate leaders in the world, such as Brad Jacobs and Mark Leonard, underpinning the critical role that all kinds of Engaged Principals can play in bringing forth the full potential of a company.
This evolution in engaged ownership demands the strategic attention of the modern sponsor who plays to win. Today, as Engaged Principals shape company futures with growing influence, the most innovative sponsors are not standing still. They are capitalizing on the convergence of public and private markets, helping energized ideas get where they need to go.
The New Private Equity is here, and we should welcome more of it.
Innovation in Origination
In 2025, private equity ostensibly found itself running short of its most treasured supply: receptive acquisition candidates. Out of this dilemma, an old kind of dealmaking was reborn. One such case happened to be documented in a preliminary proxy statement in October of 2025. In this proxy, a curious reader could see, perhaps for the first time, how an engaged owner (what some might call an "activist") and a third-party family office partnered with a private equity sponsor to purchase a public company. And given its success, it likely won't be the last time we see a story of this kind.
For many reasons.
Demand and Supply
The surging demand for, and the diminishing supply of, transactable businesses has demonstrated that the throughput of M&A has its limits even in the world’s foremost economic powerhouse: the United States of America. It used to be when an issuer said "no", private equity would shrug and move on to the next conversation; after all, there were plenty of other candidates who might say "I do".
The story is much different today. In both the public and private marketplace, deals are increasingly scarce relative to those pursuing them.
On the public side, it may surprise many that the modern public corporation itself has become an endangered species. According to Michael Mauboussin’s 2023 piece, Birth, Death and Wealth Creation, the population of U.S. public companies has shrunk by more than 3,000 (40%) since 1996.
On the private side, we see an array of sponsors clutching their treasured assets, enabled by the Cambrian explosion of continuation vehicles, NAV loans, collateralized fund obligations and private credit. These structures, heavily endorsed by the Alternatives-Industrial-Complex, all contribute to one thing: they help sponsors to hang onto their portfolio companies longer, exacerbating the existing deficit in supply.
Meanwhile, demand is charging ahead. As of 2025, PE "dry powder" topped two trillion dollars (Prequin). This is a new state where the value of effective dealmaking starts to go non-linear.
On the private side, we see a proliferating ecosystem designed for the origination and distribution of deals: The fundless sponsors. The SPV-squared/cubed. The podcaster-VC's and the VC-podcasters.
On the public side, we something equally interesting.
The New Private Equity
In the small cap public equity market, we are seeing a kind of dealmaking that is driven by a figure that has a unique right to its origination: the Engaged Principal. An owner who not only sees a new future for a company, but who also has the right combination of relationships and resources to make it happen.
In 2024, we saw some early hints of the convergence between private equity and institutional-tier "activist" investors. Jana Partners partnered with Cannae. Corvex Management partnered with Joe Costa to create Corvex Private Equity.
Fittingly, in 2025, it was Corvex who deftly embodied this convergence in its creation of, and participation in, the take-private of Heidrick and Struggles (HSII), with Advent as lead.
Of course, the privatization of a company by an activist is hardly new. Elliott is a lead actor in this domain and has the Lucite to back it up. But it is clear that Corvex's HSII deal marks an upward bend in the trajectory of engaged ownership, standing as proof that the right idea and the right relationships are more important than size. Courtesy of Keith and Joe, we know for certain that an ‘activist’ principal no longer has to be an 11-figure hedge fund in order to privatize a public company. They simply need like-minded private equity relationships.
And these continue to be materializing in the market.
In fact, this year, Irenic Capital (led by Adam Katz, a former Associate Portfolio Manager at Elliott) made a meaningful hire in precisely this direction. Following Irenic submitting a takeover bid in February to the board of one of its portfolio companies, Reservoir Media, Adam shared with Liana Baker at Bloomberg that private equity professional E-Fei Wang has joined him from Apollo to lead Irenic's relationships with the sponsor community. In addition to all of this activity, Irenic added another leg to its stool, pricing a USD$220mm SPAC, Irenic Acquisition Corp in late April.
The bottom line is that for any investor looking for more 'value unlock' in their investments in this 'broken market,' the convergence of public and private markets should be welcome news.
From Outsiders to Orchestrators
An "activist" shareholder used to be understood as some renegade market actor. The reality of today’s "shareholder engagement" ecosystem stands in clear contrast to this dated narrative. Thanks to decades of modernization and its direct connection to value creation, shareholder engagement has gained widespread institutional support and has become one of the fastest growing alternative public market strategies.
The fact that engaged ownership of public companies is moving beyond the institutional investment arena further validates this common-sense approach to ownership; some of today’s newest engaged owners are among the best-regarded corporate leaders in the world, such as Brad Jacobs and Mark Leonard, underpinning the critical role that all kinds of Engaged Principals can play in bringing forth the full potential of a company.
This evolution in engaged ownership demands the strategic attention of the modern sponsor who plays to win. Today, as Engaged Principals shape company futures with growing influence, the most innovative sponsors are not standing still. They are capitalizing on the convergence of public and private markets, helping energized ideas get where they need to go.
The New Private Equity is here, and we should welcome more of it.
Innovation in Origination
In 2025, private equity ostensibly found itself running short of its most treasured supply: receptive acquisition candidates. Out of this dilemma, an old kind of dealmaking was reborn. One such case happened to be documented in a preliminary proxy statement in October of 2025. In this proxy, a curious reader could see, perhaps for the first time, how an engaged owner (what some might call an "activist") and a third-party family office partnered with a private equity sponsor to purchase a public company. And given its success, it likely won't be the last time we see a story of this kind.
For many reasons.
Demand and Supply
The surging demand for, and the diminishing supply of, transactable businesses has demonstrated that the throughput of M&A has its limits even in the world’s foremost economic powerhouse: the United States of America. It used to be when an issuer said "no", private equity would shrug and move on to the next conversation; after all, there were plenty of other candidates who might say "I do".
The story is much different today. In both the public and private marketplace, deals are increasingly scarce relative to those pursuing them.
On the public side, it may surprise many that the modern public corporation itself has become an endangered species. According to Michael Mauboussin’s 2023 piece, Birth, Death and Wealth Creation, the population of U.S. public companies has shrunk by more than 3,000 (40%) since 1996.
On the private side, we see an array of sponsors clutching their treasured assets, enabled by the Cambrian explosion of continuation vehicles, NAV loans, collateralized fund obligations and private credit. These structures, heavily endorsed by the Alternatives-Industrial-Complex, all contribute to one thing: they help sponsors to hang onto their portfolio companies longer, exacerbating the existing deficit in supply.
Meanwhile, demand is charging ahead. As of 2025, PE "dry powder" topped two trillion dollars (Prequin). This is a new state where the value of effective dealmaking starts to go non-linear.
On the private side, we see a proliferating ecosystem designed for the origination and distribution of deals: The fundless sponsors. The SPV-squared/cubed. The podcaster-VC's and the VC-podcasters.
On the public side, we something equally interesting.
The New Private Equity
In the small cap public equity market, we are seeing a kind of dealmaking that is driven by a figure that has a unique right to its origination: the Engaged Principal. An owner who not only sees a new future for a company, but who also has the right combination of relationships and resources to make it happen.
In 2024, we saw some early hints of the convergence between private equity and institutional-tier "activist" investors. Jana Partners partnered with Cannae. Corvex Management partnered with Joe Costa to create Corvex Private Equity.
Fittingly, in 2025, it was Corvex who deftly embodied this convergence in its creation of, and participation in, the take-private of Heidrick and Struggles (HSII), with Advent as lead.
Of course, the privatization of a company by an activist is hardly new. Elliott is a lead actor in this domain and has the Lucite to back it up. But it is clear that Corvex's HSII deal marks an upward bend in the trajectory of engaged ownership, standing as proof that the right idea and the right relationships are more important than size. Courtesy of Keith and Joe, we know for certain that an ‘activist’ principal no longer has to be an 11-figure hedge fund in order to privatize a public company. They simply need like-minded private equity relationships.
And these continue to be materializing in the market.
In fact, this year, Irenic Capital (led by Adam Katz, a former Associate Portfolio Manager at Elliott) made a meaningful hire in precisely this direction. Following Irenic submitting a takeover bid in February to the board of one of its portfolio companies, Reservoir Media, Adam shared with Liana Baker at Bloomberg that private equity professional E-Fei Wang has joined him from Apollo to lead Irenic's relationships with the sponsor community. In addition to all of this activity, Irenic added another leg to its stool, pricing a USD$220mm SPAC, Irenic Acquisition Corp in late April.
The bottom line is that for any investor looking for more 'value unlock' in their investments in this 'broken market,' the convergence of public and private markets should be welcome news.
From Outsiders to Orchestrators
An "activist" shareholder used to be understood as some renegade market actor. The reality of today’s "shareholder engagement" ecosystem stands in clear contrast to this dated narrative. Thanks to decades of modernization and its direct connection to value creation, shareholder engagement has gained widespread institutional support and has become one of the fastest growing alternative public market strategies.
The fact that engaged ownership of public companies is moving beyond the institutional investment arena further validates this common-sense approach to ownership; some of today’s newest engaged owners are among the best-regarded corporate leaders in the world, such as Brad Jacobs and Mark Leonard, underpinning the critical role that all kinds of Engaged Principals can play in bringing forth the full potential of a company.
This evolution in engaged ownership demands the strategic attention of the modern sponsor who plays to win. Today, as Engaged Principals shape company futures with growing influence, the most innovative sponsors are not standing still. They are capitalizing on the convergence of public and private markets, helping energized ideas get where they need to go.
The New Private Equity is here, and we should welcome more of it.
Innovation in Origination
In 2025, private equity ostensibly found itself running short of its most treasured supply: receptive acquisition candidates. Out of this dilemma, an old kind of dealmaking was reborn. One such case happened to be documented in a preliminary proxy statement in October of 2025. In this proxy, a curious reader could see, perhaps for the first time, how an engaged owner (what some might call an "activist") and a third-party family office partnered with a private equity sponsor to purchase a public company. And given its success, it likely won't be the last time we see a story of this kind.
For many reasons.
Demand and Supply
The surging demand for, and the diminishing supply of, transactable businesses has demonstrated that the throughput of M&A has its limits even in the world’s foremost economic powerhouse: the United States of America. It used to be when an issuer said "no", private equity would shrug and move on to the next conversation; after all, there were plenty of other candidates who might say "I do".
The story is much different today. In both the public and private marketplace, deals are increasingly scarce relative to those pursuing them.
On the public side, it may surprise many that the modern public corporation itself has become an endangered species. According to Michael Mauboussin’s 2023 piece, Birth, Death and Wealth Creation, the population of U.S. public companies has shrunk by more than 3,000 (40%) since 1996.
On the private side, we see an array of sponsors clutching their treasured assets, enabled by the Cambrian explosion of continuation vehicles, NAV loans, collateralized fund obligations and private credit. These structures, heavily endorsed by the Alternatives-Industrial-Complex, all contribute to one thing: they help sponsors to hang onto their portfolio companies longer, exacerbating the existing deficit in supply.
Meanwhile, demand is charging ahead. As of 2025, PE "dry powder" topped two trillion dollars (Prequin). This is a new state where the value of effective dealmaking starts to go non-linear.
On the private side, we see a proliferating ecosystem designed for the origination and distribution of deals: The fundless sponsors. The SPV-squared/cubed. The podcaster-VC's and the VC-podcasters.
On the public side, we something equally interesting.
The New Private Equity
In the small cap public equity market, we are seeing a kind of dealmaking that is driven by a figure that has a unique right to its origination: the Engaged Principal. An owner who not only sees a new future for a company, but who also has the right combination of relationships and resources to make it happen.
In 2024, we saw some early hints of the convergence between private equity and institutional-tier "activist" investors. Jana Partners partnered with Cannae. Corvex Management partnered with Joe Costa to create Corvex Private Equity.
Fittingly, in 2025, it was Corvex who deftly embodied this convergence in its creation of, and participation in, the take-private of Heidrick and Struggles (HSII), with Advent as lead.
Of course, the privatization of a company by an activist is hardly new. Elliott is a lead actor in this domain and has the Lucite to back it up. But it is clear that Corvex's HSII deal marks an upward bend in the trajectory of engaged ownership, standing as proof that the right idea and the right relationships are more important than size. Courtesy of Keith and Joe, we know for certain that an ‘activist’ principal no longer has to be an 11-figure hedge fund in order to privatize a public company. They simply need like-minded private equity relationships.
And these continue to be materializing in the market.
In fact, this year, Irenic Capital (led by Adam Katz, a former Associate Portfolio Manager at Elliott) made a meaningful hire in precisely this direction. Following Irenic submitting a takeover bid in February to the board of one of its portfolio companies, Reservoir Media, Adam shared with Liana Baker at Bloomberg that private equity professional E-Fei Wang has joined him from Apollo to lead Irenic's relationships with the sponsor community. In addition to all of this activity, Irenic added another leg to its stool, pricing a USD$220mm SPAC, Irenic Acquisition Corp in late April.
The bottom line is that for any investor looking for more 'value unlock' in their investments in this 'broken market,' the convergence of public and private markets should be welcome news.
From Outsiders to Orchestrators
An "activist" shareholder used to be understood as some renegade market actor. The reality of today’s "shareholder engagement" ecosystem stands in clear contrast to this dated narrative. Thanks to decades of modernization and its direct connection to value creation, shareholder engagement has gained widespread institutional support and has become one of the fastest growing alternative public market strategies.
The fact that engaged ownership of public companies is moving beyond the institutional investment arena further validates this common-sense approach to ownership; some of today’s newest engaged owners are among the best-regarded corporate leaders in the world, such as Brad Jacobs and Mark Leonard, underpinning the critical role that all kinds of Engaged Principals can play in bringing forth the full potential of a company.
This evolution in engaged ownership demands the strategic attention of the modern sponsor who plays to win. Today, as Engaged Principals shape company futures with growing influence, the most innovative sponsors are not standing still. They are capitalizing on the convergence of public and private markets, helping energized ideas get where they need to go.
The New Private Equity is here, and we should welcome more of it.
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