first, they dilute stockholders to death, and then, they want to "protect them against" potential acquirers who might pay up for the worthless bolivian ET shares.
how about a poison pill in your tea instead, C.C.? that's what ET stockholders need, protection against your convertible bonds and worthless acquisitions that made ET a penny stock.
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Headline: E-Trade Group Adopts 'Poison Pill'
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Business Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Online broker E-Trade Group Inc. adopted an
anti-takeover measure Thursday to ward off those who might try to
pounce on the company's depressed stock price and buy the business
at a discount.
In approving the so-called ``stockholder rights plan,''
E-Trade's board said the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company hadn't
received any buyout offers. In a statement, E-Trade described the
measure - known on Wall Street as a ``poison pill'' - as a way to
protect shareholders against takeover bids ``that do not offer an
adequate price to all stockholders or are otherwise not in the best
interests'' of the company.
Like many Internet companies, E-Trade's stock is in a funk. The
company's shares dipped 30 cents Thursday to close at $6.17 on the
New York Stock Exchange, less than half its 52-week high of $13.20.
Unlike most online businesses, though, E-Trade has built a
franchise that might draw the interest of bargain-hunting buyers.
With 3.3 million active accounts worldwide as of March 31, the
company boasts the No. 2 online brokerage behind Charles Schwab
Corp. E-Trade also runs an online bank with 405,000 accountholders
and deposits of $6.7 billion.
``This is not an unusual thing to do in this kind of
environment,'' E-Trade spokesman John Metaxas said.
Poison pills, popularized during the corporate takeover craze of
the 1980s, have drawn criticism for protecting the jobs of richly
paid executives while making it more difficult for shareholders to
cash in on potentially lucrative takeover offers.
Generally, poison pills make takeovers prohibitively expensive
by issuing a new class of high-priced stock that would have to be
bought too. E-Trade's plan gives the board the authority to flood
the market with high-priced stock should an investor buy, or launch
a hostile bid, for 10 percent of the company.
Despite the poison pill, E-Trade said it will continue to
consider ``appropriate business combinations.'' The company is in
the process of buying rival online broker Web Street Inc. of
Deerfield, Ill. for about $30 million in stock. The deal will add
34,000 customer accounts to E-Trade's portfolio.
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On the Web:
etrade.com |
