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This dissertation was written as part of the LLM in Transnational and European Commercial Law, Mediation, Arbitration and Energy Law at the International Hellenic University. The aim of this thesis is to present a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of hostile takeovers and the basic defense strategies that can be adopted against them. First a reference has been made to the theoretical background of the scheme of takeovers in general, for the best understanding of the terminology which is various in this field. Then, hostile takeovers are presented and in this stage it was crucial a division among the preliminary takeover steps and the main takeover tactics. The second part of this thesis is about the defence strategies that can be adopted against hostile takeovers and case law references are used as paradigms . Defence strategies are also divided in proactive and active defence measures. In general, the target of this study is to give prominence to the most famous defence strategies and to point out when these are chosen as a tactic by the acquired company. Last part of this thesis refers to the European framework for the hostile takeovers which refers to the EU Directive on Takeover Bids: Directive 2004/25/EC and its basic articles. In this part, the thesis focuses on proposals for achieving the initial goal of the Directive, the creation of a unified European system on the field of takeover bids.