Papa John’s is preparing for a fight against John Schnatter, the pizza chain’s founder and former chairman, by adopting a so-called poison pill defense to protect itself against a hostile takeover attempt. The plan, announced late Sunday by the company’s board, is meant to prevent any shareholder from amassing a controlling interest in Papa John’s. Mr. Schnatter, who resigned as chairman this month after a report that he had used a racial slur in a comment about black people, owns 30 percent of the company’s stock, making him its largest shareholder. Bank — is typically employed to fend off takeover efforts by activist investors and acquisitive rivals. It has rarely been used to preemptively rebuff a company founder, one notable exception being the poison pill that American Apparel adopted in 2014 amid an acrimonious split with its founder, Dov Charney.

Source: New York Times July 23, 2018 16:41 UTC