Drag-Along Rights

Companies are usually owned by random assortments of individuals and organizations unified only by their common possession of interests, known as shares, in the company. When a company is sold, each existing shareholder transfers its shares to the new owners. Often, a company’s existing shareholders disagree on when to sell the company, and the discord between them can get ugly.

To assuage the possibility of either side diverting corporate assets to commission a make-shift death star to settle the battle in the making, companies usually lay out procedures for resolving shareholder disputes in contracts put in place when they are formed. Sometimes these contracts give a majority of shareholders the right, known as a "drag-along," to force the minority into a sale of the company, so long as all shareholders receive the same price and terms of sale.

Bit of a jerk move, but effective nonetheless.