Investor Update Forms Strategic Partnership with Okapi Partners.
Expanded Global Reach and Extensive Range of Capabilities Will Serve the Needs of Corporate and Investor Clients of Both Firms
NEW YORK and LONDON, September 7, 2023 – Okapi Partners LLC, a recognized leader among proxy solicitation and investor response firms, today announced the opening of its London office and a strategic partnership with Investor Update Ltd., a prominent London-based shareholder intelligence and Investor Relations and Advisory firm. These initiatives will provide an expanded presence in global markets and the ability to offer a comprehensive range of strategic services for corporate and investor clients, including expanded market intelligence, surveillance, corporate advisory and proxy solicitation.
Okapi Partners, which has been rated the top proxy solicitation firm for shareholder activism campaigns by Insightia, Bloomberg and others, noted that having a physical presence in Europe will enable the firm to better serve the needs of corporate clients and institutional investors in a rapidly changing global corporate governance landscape. The partnership with Investor Update will expand Okapi Partners’ existing strong stockholder identification and market intelligence capabilities and bolster its proxy solicitation resources by providing the ability to offer these services to a global clientele, complemented by Investor Update’s ESG and Corporate Advisory offerings.
Patrick McHugh, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Okapi, will lead the firm’s London expansion. Tony Quinn, who has headed Investor Update’s Proxy Solicitation team since 2020, has transferred to Okapi Partners as Senior Managing Director, and will report to Mr. McHugh. Mr. Quinn is an experienced proxy solicitor and investor response professional with more than 30 years of experience in shareholder activism campaigns, merger and acquisition transactions, and corporate proxy solicitation. In addition to the initial professional staffing in London, Alexandra Higgins, a Managing Director at Okapi Partners, will be joining the London office to spearhead the firm’s Governance Consulting practice in EMEA while continuing to serve her current clients.
“The marketplace for proxy solicitation and investor response services evolves in extremely dynamic and complex ways sculpted by forces that include economic volatility, investor activism, ESG policies and practices, changing regulatory imperatives, and an increasingly challenging M&A environment,” said Bruce H. Goldfarb, President and Chief Executive Officer of Okapi Partners. “I am delighted that our London initiative is being spearheaded by Pat McHugh, our firm’s Co-Founder, which, in concert with our partnership with Investor Update, is indicative of our strong commitment to assist corporations and investors around the globe as they face these challenges.”
Patrick McHugh added, “The new London office and our partnership with Investor Update will enhance Okapi Partners’ ability to provide a full range of solicitation and investor response
services, not only in the UK, but also throughout Europe as well as Japan and other key markets in Asia. I have worked with Tony Quinn on numerous and varied transactions over the past 30 years, ever since we started our careers at Georgeson, and I’m excited that he is joining us as the cornerstone of a growing team with a solid in-market presence and an experienced global perspective.”
Patrick Mitchell, Managing Partner of Investor Update, commented, “Our firm has built a reputation for world-class expertise and a commitment to excellence in shareholder intelligence, ESG Analytics, Corporate Advisory and proxy solicitation. Partnering with Okapi will strengthen our collective resources and enhance our ability to deliver actionable insights, solid execution and impactful results for our clientele.”
About Okapi Partners LLC
Founded in 2008, Okapi Partners is a leading strategic proxy solicitation and investor response firm that provides a full range of solicitation and information agent services, as well as support for M&A transactions, activist-related strategies, corporate governance and ESG consulting, market intelligence, and advisory services. Okapi represents corporations, institutional investors, investment management companies and their management firms, private equity firms, and hedge funds, and provides them with superior intellectual capital, industry relationships and execution capabilities.
About Investor Update
Investor Update was established in 2017 to provide corporate investor relations teams and their advisors with unparalleled shareholder intelligence and IR services. With the market’s most experienced shareholder intelligence teams, built on decades of experience, the firm identifies and tracks key investors with pinpoint accuracy, complemented with innovative solutions such as in-depth investor targeting, ESG benchmarking, ESG and Corporate Advisory, and perception studies.
Media Contact:
Zach Kouwe
Dukas Linden Public Relations
okapi@dlpr.com
