Considering the robust global M&A markets of the last few years, it is unsurprising that activist investors have increasingly sought to leverage these transactions for their own gain. To that end, shareholder activists have developed a variety of M&A-related strategies.

There is a wide range of issues that a board and management team must face in considering an M&A transaction in the normal course.

Increasingly however, a company that is considering a potential merger or acquisition, or asking its shareholders