Browse Corporate Finance

Board and Asset Defense Tactics

Staggered board, crown jewels, and Pac-Man defense terms used in takeover defense.

Board and Asset Defense Tactics covers mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, SPAC transactions, deal consideration, takeover bids, defenses, divestitures, restructurings, turnarounds, and control transactions.

Use these pages when a transaction changes ownership, control, valuation, financing, assets, liabilities, shareholder rights, or business scope. It sits inside Takeover Defenses and Shareholder Rights, so readers can move up when the broader company-finance context matters.

Use the table below to choose the narrower corporate-finance branch before applying a term to a model, board memo, financing analysis, transaction review, or risk assessment. Move into the term page when the evidence source, calculation, agreement, filing, account, or governance right matters.

What This Branch Covers

AreaUse it for
Crown JewelsCrown jewels are a company’s most valuable assets, sometimes targeted for sale or protection during takeover defense.
Pac-Man DefensePac-Man defense is a hostile-takeover defense in which the target tries to acquire the would-be acquirer.
Staggered BoardA staggered board is a corporate governance strategy where board members are elected in increments, complicating quick control takeovers.

What to Check

  • Buyer, seller, target, acquirer, board, shareholder, creditor, or adviser involved.
  • Letter of intent, merger agreement, tender offer, proxy, fairness opinion, financing commitment, or restructuring plan.
  • Consideration form, valuation basis, premium, synergies, working capital, debt, earnout, and closing conditions.
  • Approval thresholds, regulatory review, fiduciary duties, break fees, defenses, and integration risk.
  • Effect on enterprise value, leverage, dilution, control, liquidity, taxes, accounting, and execution risk.

Common Mistakes

  • Treating announcement value as final deal value.
  • Ignoring closing conditions, financing risk, approvals, and competing bids.
  • Mixing asset sales, mergers, tender offers, spin-offs, carve-outs, and restructurings.
  • Assuming takeover-defense labels determine outcomes without board, shareholder, and legal context.

M&A content is educational and does not provide legal, tax, accounting, valuation, fairness-opinion, or transaction advice.

In this section

Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.

Crown Jewels

Crown jewels are a company's most valuable assets, sometimes targeted for sale or protection during takeover defense.

Pac-Man Defense

Pac-Man defense is a hostile-takeover defense in which the target tries to acquire the would-be acquirer.

Staggered Board

A staggered board is a corporate governance strategy where board members are elected in increments, complicating quick control takeovers.

Revised on Sunday, June 21, 2026