Hostile Takeover Defense Measures

This topic tests your understanding of how a target company can respond strategically when an unwanted acquirer tries to take control. In investment banking interviews, questions like this are used to check whether you know the standard takeover defense playbook, the role of management and the board, and the tradeoffs between protecting independence and accepting a different outcome. You need to distinguish among the main defense concepts, understand how each one changes the dynamics of the bid, and recognize why some defenses are more practical or more common than others. Interviewers ask this because M&A situations often turn on strategy, control, and negotiation leverage, not just valuation.