Goldman Activism Defense Chief Joins Activist Investor Elliott
Barg, a Goldman partner, was the bank’s co-head of mergers and acquisitions shareholder advisory.
(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s top activism banker Steven Barg is joining the New York hedge fund Elliott Management Corp., one of the main firms he used to defend companies against, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg.
Barg will join the firm as its new global head of corporate engagement, the memo states. Barg, a Goldman partner, was the bank’s co-head of mergers and acquisitions shareholder advisory. He is also a veteran capital markets banker and spent the bulk of his career in Asia. He joined Goldman in 2010 from UBS Group AG.
In his new role, Barg will lead Elliott’s strategic equities team and advise on corporate engagement, shareholder interactions, director recruitment and other strategic elements, according to the memo.
”We believe Steven will be an important addition to the Elliott team and will help us to continue to advance Elliott’s role in leading corporate engagements globally,” Elliott’s Co-Chief Executive Officers Paul Singer and Jon Pollock said in the memo.
Elliott, which has $35 billion under management, has become one of the busiest activists globally. Founded bySinger in 1977, the fund has pushed for major changes at large companies such as EBay Inc., Hyundai Motor Group, BHP Group and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. The firm has expanded its reach in recent years with a private equity arm that recently acquired bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc.
Elliott and Barg declined to comment. Goldman Sachs wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Over the past decade, activist investors such as Elliott have taken on a bigger role in shaking up corporate board rooms and also become a major factor in mergers and acquisitions activity. That in turn has created a booming business for bankers to advise companies that are facing challenges from activist firms.
Elliott has hired investment bankers before, such as Geoffrey Sorbello, who joined the hedge fund from boutique bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. in 2016.
To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net;Max Abelson in New York at mabelson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Hauck at dhauck1@bloomberg.net, Liana Baker
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.