The Pac-Man defense is a defensive option to stave off a hostile takeover.
A Pac-Man defense is when a company that is under a hostile takeover acquires its would-be buyer.
The most quoted example in U.S. corporate history is the attempted hostile takeover of Martin Marietta by Bendix Corporation in 1982. In response Martin Marietta started buying Bendix stock with the aim of assuming control over the company. Bendix persuaded Allied Corp. to act as a White Knight, and the company was sold to Allied the same year.
The name refers to when Pac-Man, the star of the videogame of the same name getting a large pellet to stop a ghost from defeating him, as well as eating the ghost.
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