• Investor calls on Segro to engage with Prologis pay off
• Astaris seeks refreshed board at KNOT Offshore Partners
• BP to market North Sea business amid efficiency calls by Elliott

Shareholder activism in Europe slowed further in July, with just four new campaigns opened, down from eight in June and 14 in May.

While not a huge surprise – it’s a holiday-heavy time of year and July 2025 also saw a drop-off in activity to six campaigns – the 68 new campaigns logged in the first seven months of 2026 are still down 22% compared to the same period last year, Activistmonitor data show.

NB: Figures in the above chart refer to the month in which the campaign was first broached, and therefore figures can change retrospectively as new campaigns are identified.

Grabbing the biggest headlines last month were several calls for London-listed logistics REIT Segro to engage in talks with US peer Prologis, after the latter had had three separate takeover proposals rejected by Segro’s board in June and July.

Shortly before a 22 July bid deadline, activist investor Palliser Capital and ESG-focused CCLA Investment Management separately urged the board to extend the deadline to facilitate talks with Prologis.

A day earlier, Norges Bank (not typically viewed as an activist) had called on the Segro board to “enter into constructive discussions”, arguing that Prologis’ proposal had “strategic rationale” and merited consideration.

Despite its steadfast rejection of Prologis’ approach until that point, the Segro board appeared to be listening. After the bidder improved its proposal slightly and declared it ‘best and final’, the board not only agreed to extend the Put Up or Shut Up (PUSU) deadline by three weeks, but surprised the market by also saying that it was “minded to recommend” the proposal, if firmed up at the current terms.

On 4 August, the two companies agreed on a share exchange deal with a cash alternative, which, based on Prologis’ closing share price on 21 July, valued Segro’s equity at an implied GBP 14.2bn.

Milan-listed TREVI – Finanziaria Industriale found itself in the opposite position after 6.6% shareholder Polaris told a local media outlet on 29 July it would reject a public offer for the company from rival underground engineering group ICOP as it lacked the strategic and industrial logic needed to improve Trevi’s prospects.

Polaris President Bernard Horn urged Trevi’s board and other shareholders to also reject the approach, which when announced in late June implied an equity value of EUR 273m for Trevi and a per share offer price of EUR 4.163.

On the very same day (29 July), Italian infrastructure and major works company Webuild cut in with a rival cash offer for Trevi at a slightly higher valuation of EUR 295m, or EUR 4.50 per share, opening the door for a potential bid war.

On 7 August, Milano Finanza reported that Polaris is opposed to Webuild’s offer too and wants the management to be allowed to continue to implement Trevi’s standalone strategy.

The Trevi board has acknowledged the two offers but at the time of publication it had yet to formally respond to either of them. Meanwhile, Trevi’s shares are trading above both offers, at around EUR 4.63.

Outside M&A-liked activity, Astaris Capital Management said on 30 July that it had sent a letter to the board of KNOT Offshore Partners LP, calling for a “refreshment” of the board and expressing a desire to engage with the USD 363m market-cap company in relation to this.

Astaris noted that it had recently increased its stake in the US-listed, Aberdeen-based operator of shuttle tankers to 8.1%, and made clear it has sought to engage with the management and board on various matters in the past, including capital allocation, governance issues, and a non-binding takeover offer received from its sponsor Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers in October 2025, for which an agreement was never reached.

The activist urged the board to respond before 14 August to discuss the appointment of additional independent directors. If it doesn’t, Astaris said it is “fully prepared to exercise its rights as a unitholder” and nominate its own representatives.

Based on conversations with like-minded investors, Astaris added that it strongly believes any director candidates nominated by the firm would receive substantial support from KNOT’s unitholder base.

There had been no public response from KNOT by the time of publication.

Meanwhile, Elliott Management scored another partial win in its campaign at BP, when on the final day of July, the UK oil major announced that it is launching a process to market its North Sea business for a potential sale. Elliott has among other things been calling for cost cuts, improved capital allocations, and divestments at BP since it disclosed a 5% stake in April 2025.

Fifteen campaigns were registered as closed in July due to exits or inactivity.