Disney Board Limits Shareholder Rights Plans

The Walt Disney Co. board of directors adopted a plan to limit shareholder rights plans to prevent hostile takeovers, the Associated Press has reported. The Disney board adopted a plan it first opposed when it was placed before company shareholders at the company’s annual meeting earlier this year, the AP said. The proposal requires any shareholder rights plan be approved by a majority of the board, including a majority of independent directors, the AP reported. Shareholder rights plans typically allow a company to issue additional shares whenever someone acquires a large percentage of a company. The plans are meant to make it more costly for an unwanted suitor to make a hostile takeover bid.