Takeover bid

An approach from a company or a group of private investors to gain control of a target company. The acquiring company approaches the target company’s shareholders to buy up the shares it needs to own all of the business or a majority stake. This can be done on friendly or hostile terms. The acquiring company often offers shareholders a significant premium on the current market price of their shares as an incentive to sell. The shareholders vote on whether or not to approve the bid, ask for more money or wait for a competing bid.

This definition is for general information purposes only