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Joseph Cyriac

Partner

Serves organizations on a range of corporate finance and investment topics and leads our activist investor defense work

Joseph is a leader in our Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice. He serves organizations across industries on a wide range of corporate finance and investment topics, helping them refine their investor stories and hone their due diligence and deal structuring efforts.

He is also the founder of our program on activist investor defense. He has conducted over 120 activist attack role-play scenarios for companies around the world in response to or in preparation for threats from activist investors and has played a “red team” role to test strategy. He frequently speaks on these subjects at industry events.

Examples of Joseph’s recent client work include the following:

  • advising a data and information provider on its five-year strategy ahead of its largest acquisition ever
  • leading the “trivestiture” of a $100 billion industrial manufacturing business into three companies
  • advising on the $12 billion sale of a global chemicals company, focusing on synergies for potential buyers
  • developing a joint venture/partnership strategy for a real estate company looking to expand into Europe and the Middle East
  • creating a new pricing model for a data and information company to maximize revenues and margins
  • advising a business process outsourcing company through an activist attack, resulting in activist support for management
  • helping a global chemical client overcome a proxy battle

PUBLISHED WORK

Do shareholder activists create lasting value?,” McKinsey & Company, July 2024

Barbarians at the gate?,” McKinsey & Company, June 2023

The benefits of thinking like an activist investor,” McKinsey & Company, June 2017

Podcasts

The pros and cons of activist investors,” McKinsey & Company, May 2019

PAST EXPERIENCE

Morgan Stanley
Mergers and acquisitions analyst

EDUCATION

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
MBA, finance

Yale University
BA, economics