Definition of White Knight



The white knight is one of the defences against hostile takeovers. Under this, the target company agrees to be taken over by a friendly company instead of being taken over by an unfriendly bidder. This often happens in case of same industry where the large organization bids for taking over a smaller organization.

 


Due to the hostile nature of the bidding, the target company’s owners decide not to be acquired by the hostile bidder due to several reasons. The term white night is used because the white knight (friendly company) acquires the target company on the verge of the takeover by the black knight (unfriendly company).

 

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