Law Commons^™

Resurrecting The General Utilities Doctrine, Lily Kahng

Faculty Articles

This article examines the finance literature exploring the causes and consequences of takeovers and concludes that the policies underlying General Utilities repeal were misguided. This article finds that repeal of the General Utilities doctrine has made inefficient acquisitions more attractive while making efficient ones less attractive. Furthermore, repeal of the General Utilities doctrine has reduced the attractiveness of the most efficient means by which managers can divest themselves of the product of their past acquisitiveness. This article concludes that certain aspects of the doctrine should be reinstated.