What is "white knight"

n. 1 (context business English) An individual or corporation that intends to acquire another company in order to avert a hostile takeover. 2 (context fiction English) a hero, savior, or righteous individual

n. a company that is a friendly acquirer in a takeover

White knight may refer to:

• Knight-errant, a literary stock character
• The White Knight (Fitzgibbon family), an extinct hereditary Anglo-Norman title of nobility used in Ireland
• White knight (business), a "friendly investor" in business

A White Knight is a chocolate-coated, chewy, mint-flavoured confectionery bar sold in Australia. It is manufactured by Nestlé Australia. The packaging is blue and white and features a picture of a knight on a horse. Its slogan is 'Mighty Mint Chew'.

The 25 gram bar is composed of a white, mint flavoured chewy center coated in compound chocolate.

In the 1980s the bar used to lie on top of a piece of cardboard within the wrapper. On the reverse of the card was a picture of a fictional knight which could be bent at the base to stand up. Children would aim to trade and collect the set of these knights. This part of the packaging was discontinued years later, presumably as a cost-cutting measure.

It was once sold across all major Australian supermarkets as well as some discount department stores (e.g. Kmart) and milk bars/convenience stores but as of 2014 is now only available in Woolworths and Coles supermarkets and some specialty confectionery stores. The 25g bar was sold at a cheaper price point reflecting its smaller size (e.g. 75c in 2008) but in early 2010 its price was raised similar to the larger (50–60 g) sized chocolate bars (90c at Coles/Woolworths/Kmart) and it currently retails for over $1.

Ingredients:
Sugar, Glucose Syrup (Derived from Wheat or Corn), Vegetable Fat, Milk Solids, Cocoa, Gelatine, Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, 492) Peppermint Oil, Salt, Flavours, Colour (133)

Nutritional information:
Serving size: 25 g (One bar)

Average quantity per serving:
Energy 460 kJ, Protein 0.5 g, Fat (Total) 3.1 g (Saturated Fat 2.9 g), Carbohydrate 19.7 g (Sugars 15.1 g), Sodium 10 mg.

Average quantity per 100 g (Shown as per Australian food labelling standard):
Energy 1830 kJ, Protein 1.9 g, Fat (Total) 12.2 g (Saturated Fat 11.7 g), Carbohydrate 78.7 g (Sugars 60.4 g), Sodium 40 mg.

In business, a white knight is a friendly investor that acquires a corporation at a fair consideration with the support from the corporation's board of directors and management. This may be during a period while it is facing a hostile acquisition from another potential acquirer ( black knight) or it is facing bankruptcy. White knights are preferred by the board of directors (when directors are acting in good faith with regards to the interest of the corporation and its shareholders) and/or management as in most cases as they do not replace the current board or management with a new board, whereas, in most cases, a black knight will seek to replace the current board of directors and/or management with its new board reflective of its net interest in the corporation's equity.

The first type, the white knight, refers to the friendly acquirer of a target firm in a hostile takeover attempt by another firm. The intent of the acquisition is to circumvent the takeover of the object of interest by a third, unfriendly entity, which is perceived to be less favorable. The knight might defeat the undesirable entity by offering a higher and more enticing bid, or strike a favorable deal with the management of the object of acquisition.

The second type refers to the acquirer of a struggling firm that may not necessarily be under threat by a hostile firm. The financial standing of the struggling firm could prevent any other entity being interested in an acquisition. The firm may already have huge debts to pay to its creditors, or worse, may already be bankrupt. In such a case, the knight, under huge risk, acquires the firm in crisis. After acquisition, the knight then rebuilds, or integrates the firm.

A number of variations of the term have been used and these include: a grey knight which is an acquiring corporation or individual that enters a bid for a hostile takeover in addition to the target firm and first bidder, perceived as more favorable than the black knight (unfriendly bidder), but less favorable than the white knight (friendly bidder). Also, a white squire, which is similar to a white knight except it only exercises a significant minority stake, as opposed to a majority stake. A white squire doesn't have the intention, but rather serves as a figurehead in defense of a hostile takeover. The white squire may often also get special voting rights for their equity stake.

The Pedigree of The White Knight was one of three hereditary knighthoods within Ireland dating from the medieval period. It was held by the Fitzgibbon family, and has since become dormant. The others are Fitzgerald: Knight of Glin (also called the Black Knight) which too after 700 years, has become dormant since the passing of the 29th Knight, September 2011) and Fitzgerald: Knight of Kerry (also called the Green Knight).

The White Knight is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass. He represents the chess piece of the same name. As imagined in John Tenniel's illustrations for the Alice stories he has echoes of John Millais's Sir Isumbras at the Ford.

White Knight is an Indian documentary film directed by Aarti Shrivastava. The subject is Chewang Norphel, a 78-year-old engineer in Leh, Ladakh, who, over the last 15 years, has invented and implemented a technology that is helping provide a solution to an ecological disaster created by climate change.

The film documents how Ladakh is grappling with an alarming water scarcity situation. In this high altitude desert where the melting of glaciers has been the traditional source of fresh water, a warmer planet is playing havoc with lifestyles and the ecology. With glaciers melting faster, fresh water is precious. Norphel's solution uses common sense and elementary observational science to create artificial glaciers.