Blank-check preferred is usually used as a takeover defense and hedge-fund managers typically want to take this weapon away.

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In any other context, the company would be viewed as ripe for acquisition, but its JVs make for a more effective takeover defense than even the best poison pills ever devised.

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He might even resort to ImClone's poison-pill defense, which makes a takeover impossible by flooding the market with new shares if a buyer acquires more than 19.9% of the stock without the board's approval.

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