Grant & Eisenhofer Expands Shareholder Activism Platform with Addition of Jonathan Oestreich

Leading shareholder and corporate governance law firm Grant & Eisenhofer has expanded its shareholder activism practice with the addition of Jonathan Oestreich, who joins as a director.  Under his direction, G&E will work with hedge funds, asset managers, and other investors seeking constructive change at public companies.

Mr. Oestreich was most recently a managing director at Spotlight Advisors in New York, an advisory firm focused on shareholder activism and proxy contests.  Previously, he was a senior M&A banker and led the contested situations practice at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.  He started his career as a M&A, securities, and private funds lawyer with law firm Ropes & Gray LLP.

Mr. Oestreich’s arrival aligns with G&E’s historic platform and success representing shareholders and other investors in securities and corporate governance litigation.  The firm’s new push for shareholder engagement comes as public pension funds and other institutional investors increasingly align with activist shareholders to insure the value of retirement portfolios, enhance returns, and advocate for improved governance.  As a result, activists and public company boards are applying a more rigorous approach to capital allocation, operations benchmarking, and corporate governance.  G&E’s activist practice will advocate for these improvements.

“Although investor representation has been a core mission for the entire 21-year history of our firm, we saw an opportunity to create a dedicated activism practice separate from our litigation platform,” said G&E managing director Jay Eisenhofer.

“Jon brings an outstanding background in shareholder activism, providing not only a securities law skill set but deep knowledge of corporate finance and M&A, private equity, and governance,” Mr. Eisenhofer added. “He knows the ins and outs of shareholder engagement and the proxy process.  Hedge funds and other investors can’t ask for a better value-added partner than Jon.  He brings extensive experience advising public boards, financial sponsors, and entrepreneurs on the most important decisions affecting their businesses, and he’s successfully defended companies from aggressive activist challenges.”

Over the past two decades, G&E has secured more than $28 billion in recoveries on behalf of investors, directing many of the largest securities class actions during that time.  The firm’s clients include many of the largest public pension funds in the U.S. and globally.  Mr. Eisenhofer and G&E director Michael Barry co-authored the definitive, first-of-its-kind manual for activist investors, The Shareholder Activism Handbook, published by Aspen Publishers in 2005.

Grant & Eisenhofer is a key organizer and presenter at the Institutional Investor Educational Foundation’s Global Shareholder Activism Conference, an annual event addressing critical issues affecting institutional investors.  In 2018, the firm formed a separate ESG Institute to help investors navigate the growing challenges around environmental, social and governance criteria for investing.  The Institute’s Oversight Board includes senior executives from Prudential Financial, The New York City Pension Funds, Hermes Investment Management and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund, as well as leaders from labor and academia.

“Grant & Eisenhofer is among the leading law firms focused on shareholders’ interests, with a legendary track-record achieving results for the world’s largest and most influential investors,” Mr. Oestreich said. “G&E’s new shareholder activism practice is a logical evolution for the firm and a great fit for my background as an advisor to owners, boards and managers on strategic decision-making.  I’m excited to help build a destination practice for stakeholders who want to strengthen companies by contributing their ideas and experience.”

Mr. Oestreich received a BSc from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a contributing editor of the Michigan Journal of International Law.