A suicide pill (also known as the cyanide pill, kill-pill, lethal pill, death-pill, or L-pill) is a pill, capsule, ampoule, or tablet containing a fatally poisonous substance that one ingests deliberately in order to quickly achieve death through suicide.
What is a poison pill in government?
In legislative debate, a wrecking amendment (also called a poison pill amendment or killer amendment) is an amendment made by a legislator who disagrees with the principles of a bill and who seeks to make it useless (by moving amendments to either make the bill malformed and nonsensical, or to severely change its …
What are poison pills and white knight?
In Poison Pill strategy, the target company aims at making its own stock less attractive to the acquirer. White Knight is a company (the good guy) that gallops in to make a friendly takeover offer to a target company that is facing a hostile takeover from another party (a black knight).
What is poison pill in private equity?
A poison pill is a defensive tactic used by companies, which makes it difficult for a hostile acquirer to buy out a majority stake in the company, given the acquirer control over its management and shareholding.
Who invented the poison pill?
Martin Lipton
The architect of the anti-takeover defense, Martin Lipton, explained to the Deal why he dreamed up the poison pill in the first place. Starting in the 1970s, men like T. Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn were sending tremors through corporate boards.
Is poison pill legal?
However, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld poison pills as a valid instrument of takeover defense in its 1985 decision in Moran v. Household International, Inc. However, many jurisdictions other than the U.S. have held the poison pill strategy as illegal, or place restraints on their use.
What is the poison pill strategy?
A poison pill is a defense tactic utilized by a target company to prevent or discourage hostile takeover attempts. Poison pills allow existing shareholders the right to purchase additional shares at a discount, effectively diluting the ownership interest of a new, hostile party.
Are poison pills good for shareholders?
There are obvious benefits for the existing board of directors, but shareholders benefit as well when the takeover might damage the stock’s long-term value. Another major benefit is that poison pills are extremely effective at discouraging monopolistic takeovers.
Are poison pills legal?
Are Poison pills legal?
Are hostile takeovers good or bad?
Hostile Takeover These types of takeovers are usually bad news, affecting employee morale at the targeted firm, which can quickly turn to animosity against the acquiring firm. While there are examples of hostile takeovers working, they are generally tougher to pull off than a friendly merger.