Law360, New York ( May 30, 2014, 7:53 PM EDT) -- Now a persistent force in corporate America, activists continue to seek new areas and creative methods of influence. Their initial focus was on changing corporate governance, influencing business strategy and removing directors. When they expanded to M&A, they pressured target companies to dismantle defensive mechanisms and negotiate with bidders, and, in a few cases, acquired large equity stakes in companies either to put them in play or as a first step to acquiring them. The Pershing Square-Valeant collaboration* is different. Rather than the activist investor making its investment in a target and then working toward causing a value-creating event, the activist has partnered with a bidder at the start of the process, creating a kind of prepackaged transaction that adds momentum to the bidder's unsolicited acquisition proposal.[1]...