NEWS ROUNDUP — Echo Bay gets poison pill

Shareholders of Echo Bay Mines (TSE) voted 75.6% in favor of a rights plan.

The shareholders rights protection plan, also known as a “poison pill,” is designed to thwart a hostile takeover by increasing the number of shares of the company on the market and, correspondingly, the cost of the takeover bid. Echo Bay says it was the only senior gold producer in North America without either a rights plan or a control-block shareholder.