Well a white knight is just one of several strategies that a company can employ to try to stop a hostile takeover. In this strategy a friendly investor would jump in for the rescue of the target company from a hostile takeover. Mostly, company officials reach out a white knight to prevent the company’s core business or to negotiate better takeover terms. After this the target company would no more be an independent company but they still prefer being owned by a white knight rather than some hostile takeover.