USX Adopts Poison Pill: USX Corp.’s board...

USX Adopts Poison Pill: USX Corp.’s board of directors adopted a shareholder rights takeover defense, saying it wanted to deter coercive takeover tactics. Adoption of the plan came less than a week after takeover strategist Carl C. Icahn disclosed that he was studying the feasibility of making a bid for the Pittsburgh-based steel and oil giant. Icahn controls 13.06% of USX’s stock, including an additional 4.25 million shares acquired last week. Shareholder rights plans, commonly known as a “poison pill,” generally are aimed at thwarting hostile takeovers by making them prohibitively expensive. The USX plan would take effect once a person or group acquired at least 15% of the company’s common stock. Under the plan, shareholders would be issued one stock warrant for each common share they already hold.