Tender Offer

A potential purchaser of a large number of shares in a company can put a request to all shareholders to determine those willing to of er their shares for purchase. Such a request to purchase shares from a large number of investors is a tender offer. A tender offer may be used by a company to repurchase some of its shares as a way of returning cash to share-holders.

A tender of er by a company to repurchase some of its shares would specify the number of shares to be bought and when the of er would expire. The same price will be paid for all shares acquired in a tender offer. This compares with the company buying back shares in an open market repurchase where sellers would receive different prices based on when the transaction occurred on the stock market.

A tender of er may also be used by an outside investor or company to acquire a large proportion or a controlling interest in another company. In acquisitions, a tender of er is usually used to acquire enough voting control to enable the takeover to succeed.

Tender offers made for the purpose of acquisitions would normally pay a premium over the prevailing price on the stock market. As a method of achieving a business combination, when a tender of er is used in a hostile acquisition, there is empirical evidence that there are long-term wealth gains for acquiring company shareholders compared to friendly mergers.

Tender Offer