(Reuters) – Cancer therapy developer Zymeworks Inc said on Friday it had adopted a “poison pill” to thwart a hostile takeover from All Blue Capital, a month after rejecting the investment firm’s $773 million bid on valuation grounds.
Vancouver, Canada-based Zymeworks said the shareholder rights plan would stop investors from amassing more than 10% of its share, or 20% in the case of some passive investors.
Poison pills, such as the one recently adopted by Twitter Inc before it accepted Elon Musk’s buyout bid, make a takeover more difficult by allowing existing shareholders to buy shares at a discount, diluting a suitor’s ownership stake.
In a filing late last month, All Blue Falcons raised its stake in Zymeworks to 6.9%.
The rights plan will expire in June next year.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
