Activist investor Fivespan takes 6.2% stake in cloud computing firm Appian

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Activist investor Fivespan Partners said on Tuesday that it owns 6.2% of Appian, a cloud computing and enterprise software company, and plans to discuss business strategy with its management and board as its stock price has slid.

The San Francisco-headquartered investment firm reported the stake in a so-called 13-D filing which is required when an investor crosses the 5% ownership threshold and intends to push for changes.

McLean, Virginia-headquartered Appian’s stock price has tumbled 86% over the last five years to roughly $2 billion, partly due to investor worries that artificial intelligence could eat into its business. The stock price closed at $29.89 on Tuesday.

However, a number of investors have called Appian a misunderstood company with extremely loyal customers, including the U.S. government.

While 13-D filings were once filed routinely by blue-chip activists like Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management and Carl Icahn, they have not been as common in recent years as investors realised they can push for changes with smaller ownership stakes.

A representative for Fivespan declined to comment beyond the filing.

Fivespan, which oversees roughly $1 billion, was founded by several former partners who in 2023 left ValueAct Capital Management, one of the industry’s best-known activist investors.

ValueAct prided itself on fostering enduring and collaborative relationships with target companies. Dylan Haggart, one of Fivespan’s founders who has spent 10 years at ValueAct, has served on the board of data storage company Seagate Technology for nearly a decade.

Fivespan also has investments in The New York Times Company, German molecular diagnostics company Qiagen, where Fivespan’s representative Mark Stevenson joined the supervisory board this week, and advertising company Outfront Media.

The pace of activist investing is exepected to accelerate this year, investors, bankers and lawyers have said, as investors see a chance to push companies to sell themselves or break apart as the pace of mergers and acquisitions is picking up.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)