to avoid dealing with something that is unpleasant or difficult: The publisher offered shareholders a special dividend to try to fend off a hostile takeover bid from a competitor. (Definition of fend someone off from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

fend something/somebody off to defend or protect yourself from something/somebody that is attacking you synonym fight off, ward off

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English fend somebody/something off phrasal verb 1 to defend yourself against someone who is attacking you SYN fight somebody ↔ off Tabitha threw up an arm to fend her attacker off. 2 to defend yourself from something such as difficult questions, competition, or a situation you do not want to deal with She uses her secretary to fend off unwanted phone calls.

to push or send away an attacker or other unwanted person: He managed to fend off his attackers with a stick. She spent the entire evening fending off unwanted admirers.