Talent for Sale: The Need for Enhanced Scrutiny in Judicial Evaluation of Acqui-Hires

Authors

Samantha Nolan

Abstract

Large technology corporations are purchasing smaller companies at an increasing rate with one goal in mind—engineers. This practice has recently been given its own name—acqui-hiring. The buying corporation purchases the target, poaches its employees, jettisons its projects, and generally kills the company. Who is injured in this process? Those who were legally supposed to be afforded the highest degree of protection at the target companies—the shareholder investors. This Note examines the practice of acqui-hiring and suggests that courts should analyze these transactions under heightened scrutiny. When addressing a target board’s decision to enter into an acqui-hire, courts can find guidance in Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc., an acquisition case that arose during a climate of similar corporate concerns.

Recommended Citation

Samantha Nolan, Talent for Sale: The Need for Enhanced Scrutiny in Judicial Evaluation of Acqui-Hires, 67 Hastings L.J. 849 (2016).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol67/iss3/6