Dolan Media creates poison pill plan

Dolan Media Co., which owns a number of business newspapers across the country, announced Thursday that it had created a shareholder rights plan designed to prevent hostile takeovers.

In a statement, the company said, “It is designed to protect the company and its stockholders from potentially coercive takeover practices or takeover bids and to prevent an acquirer from gaining control of the company without offering a fair price to the stockholders. The plan is not intended to deter offers that are fair and otherwise in the company’s and its stockholders’ best interests.”

CEO James Dolan stated, “Our adoption of this plan was not prompted by any external actions. There have been no hostile communications, and no takeover approaches. We adopted this plan in order to give our board of directors time to evaluate and respond to any unsolicited future attempts to acquire the company.â€? He said the plan is similar to plans adopted by many public companies.

Dolan Media owns the Long Island Business News, Mississippi Business Journal, the Colorado Springs Business Journal, the Idaho Business Review and the Daily Journal of Commerce in Portland, Ore., among others.

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