Poison Pill

What Does Poison Pill Mean?
A strategy used by corporations to discourage a hostile takeover by another company. The target company attempts to make its stock less attractive to the acquirer. There are two types of poison pills:

1. A "flip-in" allows existing shareholders (except the acquirer) to buy more shares at a discount.

2. The "flip-over" allows stockholders to buy the acquirer's shares at a discounted price after the merger.

Investopedia explains Poison Pill
1. By purchasing more shares cheaply (flip-in), investors get instant profits and, more importantly, they dilute the shares held by the competitors. As a result, the competitor's takeover attempt is made more difficult and expensive.

2. An example of a flip-over is when shareholders have the right to purchase stock of the acquirer on a 2-for-1 basis in any subsequent merger.

This is similar to the macaroni defense, except it uses equity rather than bonds.