By Colin Kellaher

Kelly Services has adopted a shareholder-rights plan after the staffing company's controlling shareholder said it plans to sell its stake to an undisclosed buyer.

Kelly on Monday said the Terence E. Adderley Revocable Trust K notified the Troy, Mich., company that it has inked a definitive agreement to sell its entire holding of more than 92% of Kelly's voting Class B common stock to a private party.

Kelly said its board approved the shareholder-rights plan, also known as a poison pill, which would be triggered by the acquisition of beneficial ownership of 75% or more of the company's Class B common stock.

Poison pills are antitakeover measures that flood the market with new shares, making it more expensive for suitors to acquire a controlling stake in a company.

Kelly said the poison pill is designed to give the board enough time to evaluate the terms of the trust's sale and any plans or proposals of the buyer, and to consider the best interests of all shareholders.

Kelly's Class B common stock is the only class of the company's securities with voting rights.

The Adderley trust was created by Terence Adderley, Kelly's former chairman, prior to his death in 2018. The cotrustees of the trust act by a majority vote when making investment decisions concerning the Kelly voting shares that the trust holds.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 12, 2026 10:37 ET (15:37 GMT)

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