Abbey Healthcare Adopts ‘Poison Pill’ Measure to Foil Takeovers

Abbey Healthcare Group Inc. has adopted a so-called poison pill measure designed to make it prohibitively expensive for another company to acquire control of Abbey.

Company officials acknowledged talking with Coram Healthcare Corp. and others about a possible merger.

Under the anti-takeover provision, Abbey will issue stockholders of record Feb. 24 the right to purchase Abbey common stock at a steep discount should any person or group acquire 20% or more of the company’s outstanding shares. Abbey’s board of directors would be entitled to redeem the rights at a penny each, while any rights held by the acquiring party would be canceled.

In addition, if Abbey were acquired in a hostile takeover, each right would entitle its holder to purchase shares of the acquiring company’s common stock at a steep discount.