NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs ( GS ) on

Monday tapped veteran banker Stefan Duffner to lead the

investment bank's activism and shareholder advisory work in

Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at a time corporations are

increasingly asking for help to defend against activist

investors pushing for changes.

Duffner, who joined Goldman Sachs ( GS ) as an analyst in 2005 and

was promoted to managing director in 2017, will become the head

of ASA (activism and shareholder advisory) in EMEA in addition

to his responsibilities as head M&A for the consumer retail

group in EMEA, according to a memo to Goldman staff seen by

Reuters.

Goldman's global head of Activism and Shareholder Advisory,

Avinash Mehrotra, signed the memo along with Nimesh Khiroya and

Carsten Woehrn, who are co-heads of EMEA M&A.

Anne Bizien, who led the activism group in Europe for four

years, will focus on the bank's broader client franchise in

France. She was promoted to partner last year.

Goldman last year again ranked as the industry's top

financial adviser with 49 engagements, leading JP Morgan which

had 37 engagements, the Bloomberg Global Activism League Table

shows.

Goldman also said that Camila Rodriguez Bedoya will join the

activism defense group, taking on the role in addition to her

M&A role in the Financial Institutions Group in EMEA.

In the United States, Goldman is working with Honeywell ( HON )

which is being pushed by hedge fund Elliott Investment

Management to make changes, while in Europe it worked with

Rentokil when Trian Fund Management built a position and

with Reckitt, when Eminence Capital built a stake.

Activism defense work is becoming increasingly important

for banks and even smaller players are adding teams to offer

these services to clients who may be coming under threat. In

2024, a record number of activist shareholders, including 45

newcomers who deployed the strategy for the first time, mounted

campaigns at global companies and corporations are bracing for

more fights this year, bankers and lawyers said.