Dead Hand Provision
A stipulation on a defense mechanism or poison pill used by companies in order to protect against a merger or takeover by another company. The dead hand provision prevents the removal of the poison pill even if shareholders of the target company favor the takeover.
Investopedia Commentary
A dead hand provision states that only the original directors who put the provision into place can dismantle the pill, so any new directors are prevented from interfering.
See also: Board of Directors - BOD, Poison Pill, Proxy Fight, Share Purchase Right, Shark Repellent, Takeover
Also spelled: Dead Hand