Takeover and activism wave in UK and Europe has further to run, says JPMorgan Proactive uses images sourced from ShutterstockThe wave of takeovers and shareholder activism across the UK and Europe has further to run, JPMorgan believes, as persistent valuation discounts provide a fertile landscape for deals. The UK and Germany have already experienced increased campaign volumes, while proposed EU regulatory revisions could accelerate activity across the region. Companies with healthy balance sheets and conservative payout policies were described as "natural candidates", by strategists at the US investment bank. Capital returns are becoming a greater focus for campaigners; JPMorgan's back-testing found that companies targeted by activists seeking higher shareholder returns subsequently delivered strong 12-month performance. Takeover and consolidation activity could accelerate alongside the activist push, too, especially in the UK, where the strategists noted that roughly 20% of UK companies trade below book value, compared with 15% in Germany and France and a global average of 10%.