Activist investors are attempting, with increasing vigor, to play a more influential role in the management and operations of U.S. companies. This article will discuss pragmatic, time-tested strategies CEOs and boards of publicly traded companies, including multinational corporations, can use to battle activist investors and defend against hostile takeovers. Among the options examined are the development and implementation of shareholder rights plans or "poison pills," so-called because their use effectively kills the financial attractiveness of a hostile takeover, forcing the bidder to negotiate with the target company's board of directors.

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