CHICAGO, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. DVD rental and movie downloading firm Netflix Inc. said it had moved to block investor Carl Icahn from grabbing another big chunk of company stock.
Netflix said it would issue one right for each outstanding share at the close of trading Friday, MarketWatch reported Monday.
A rights plan is put into effect to balance out control by triggering a discount for outstanding shares available to anyone except the shareholder who triggered the option.
Icahn announced last week he had purchased 9.98 percent of the company.
His pattern in the past has been to move in on a company until he has the clout to name new board members, who steer the company in the direction Icahn expects.
In the Netflix plan, the market would be inundated with new shares if any party buys more than 10 percent of the common stock without board approval.
