A strategy used in corporate mergers and acquisitions where a seemingly unrelated third party poses as a white knight in order to gain trust from the target company. After gaining trust (and possibly information that the target company is unwilling to share with the hostile acquirer), the third party turns around and joins the bidders. This term comes from the fictional Shakespearean character, Lady MacBeth. In that play, she was characterized as being overly cunning and ambitious.

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