212-440-9128
bfiske@georgeson.com
Bill Fiske leads Georgeson’s M&A and Contested Situations group in the United States. In that capacity, Bill and his team advise boards of directors and company executives on a range of issues involved in corporate transactions and complex shareholder issues. Georgeson’s advice and expertise prepare clients in all facets of corporate governance, shareholder activism, shareholder identification, and institutional investor and proxy advisor voting policies; providing guidance to steer through the maze of tactics and procedures involved in these situations.
Bill is a 30+ year veteran in the proxy industry with 25 years of service with Georgeson. He has worked with hundreds of public issuers developing and implementing targeted investor communication strategies regarding stockholder meetings, corporate actions including both negotiated and unsolicited M&A, proxy contests and shareholder activism.
Bill’s clientele includes companies from all industries and all size market caps. His practice involves a broad spectrum of matters involving stockholder voting, including:
• Corporate Governance – Advising executives and boards of
directors or special committees with respect to corporate
governance issues, anti-takeover defenses, and response plans
to recent stockholder votes. Bill is widely considered an expert
on institutional investor voting guidelines.
• Mergers and Acquisitions – Representing both public and
private strategic/private equity clients on M&A transactions, Bill
advises on the tactics and procedures involved in achieving
favorable outcomes. Understanding trading activity and how
changes in stockholder ownership can affect outcomes is a
focus.
• Shareholder Activism – Representing both issuers as well as
activists, advising with respect to shareholder proposals, proxy
contests, defensive measures, vulnerability assessments, as well
as keeping current with regulatory and legislative initiatives
relating to governance and director elections.
Bill is a member of the Society for Corporate Governance and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). He has also been a featured speaker at many industry events including national and regional Society and NIRI chapter events, The Corporate Boardroom Summit, The General Counsel Forum, as well as many other law firm and advisor conferences.
