NEW YORK, July 1 (Reuters) - Activist investors pushed global companies more aggressively in the second quarter to make changes and lifted the overall pace of campaigns in the first half of 2026, Barclays data showed, as their biggest demand was for businesses to sell themselves in a rebounding deal market.

Compared with the first half of 2025, activists such as Elliott Investment Management, Jana Partners and Starboard Value, launched 136 global campaigns between January and end-June, a 5% year-over-year increase, according to the data.

While first-quarter activity was muted following a record number of 256 campaigns in all of 2025, activity picked up dramatically in the second quarter with 74 campaigns, the data showed.

TOMS Capital began pressing U.S. shale operator Devon Energy to sell assets or put itself up for sale, Starboard Value built a stake in AI-software maker Dynatrace and is pushing for changes, while Elliott built a position in Bio-Rad Laboratories.

"The year started on a slower note but is getting much busier now and we have seen a big jump in demands for mergers and acquisitions," Jim Rossman, global head of shareholder advisory at Barclays, told Reuters.

"Activists are saying why waste time trying to fix companies when the easier argument is to sell."

The bulk of activity during the first six months of 2026 took place in the United States, where Barclays data counted 68 campaigns, representing a jump of 13% from the previous year.

More than half of all global campaigns targeted technology and industrial companies as investors believe these sectors are particularly exposed to disruption from AI.

As the investors pushed for changes, their most frequently requested demand was for some kind of M&A activity with calls for a sale ranking at the top of the list, the data showed. During the first half of the year, 21% of all campaigns agitated for a sale, compared with only 14% in 2022, Barclays said.

Ancora Alternatives is pushing specialty chemicals company Ashland to sell itself while Jana Partners wants payments company Fiserv to sell additional assets.

Bankers and lawyers forecast these demands will remain popular as deal values have rebounded and the regulatory environment in the United States is seen as friendlier even as economic headwinds remain.

ELLIOTT TOPS ACTIVITY

Activists also called on companies to refresh their boards, return capital and improve strategy and operations.

Elliott, which invests some $80 billion in assets, remained the busiest activist, having launched 12 campaigns in the first half of the year. Oasis Management, Dalton Investments, Irenic Capital Management and Palliser Capital were also busy and, together with Elliott, they waged some 41% of all campaigns in the first half, the Barclays data showed.

Even as activists, once derisively called corporate raiders, pushed aggressively for corporate changes, there were far fewer corporate battles with only two proxy fights that went to a final vote and one major "withhold campaign," recorded in the first half, down from eight in the first half of 2025, the data showed.

With fewer fights going to a vote, activists also saw a 17% drop in the number of board seats they managed to win compared with a year earlier. Elliott laid claim to 11 seats, including ones at Synopsys, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and J.M. Smucker, while Starboard scored six and Engine Capital got five, the data showed. All seats were negotiated through settlements.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)