Hedge Funds activism and their impact on the corporate governance Evidences from European case-studies in the period 2013-2016.

Although they are not a new phenomenon, hedge funds have experienced a boom during last years. They have gained momentum especially thanks to a particular strategy employed by some of them: activism. Following this strategy, hedge funds, after having built a stake on a company, try to influence its corporate governance, with either friendly or hostile campaigns. The phenomenon is widespread in the U.S.A. and recently it acquired a considerable importance also in Europe. The aim of this thesis is to illustrate the demands for changes issued by activist hedge funds to European companies and present the effects of the activist campaign also describing, if there was a change, the relative effects on the company governance. To this extent there will be presented first the main characteristics of the hedge fund industry and later an overview of hedge funds activism, with a focus on the main cases of hedge funds activism targeting European companies in the period 2013-2016.