General term referring to transfer of control of a firm from one group of shareholder's to another group of shareholders. The New York Times Financial Glossary
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takeover take‧o‧ver [ˈteɪkˌəʊvə ǁ -ˌoʊvər] noun [countable]
FINANCE the act of getting control of a company by buying over 50% of its shares:
• To avoid a takeover, the investment company went deeply in debt to pay a huge special dividend.
• There was a takeover bid by a larger and more aggressive company.
• an anti-takeover plan (= one to try and avoid a takeover )
word focus - takeover
If one company
acquires another, it buys it or
takes it
over. A
buyout is when a person or organization buys a business. An
employee/staff buyout is when employees buy the company they work for. A
management buyout is when a company’s senior managers buy the company they work for. A
leveraged buyout is when a person or organization buys a company using a loan borrowed against the company’s assets, some of which may then be sold to pay off the loan. In order to avoid a takeover, a company may use a
poison pill (= something in a company’s financial or legal structure that makes it difficult for another company to take it over ) . Other actions taken by companies to prevent a
hostile takeover include the
crown jewels defence , in which a company sells important assets cheaply to a supporter, so that the company is less attractive to buy, and then buys them back later when the takeover is less likely to happen, or the
Pacman defense , in which a company that is the target of a takeover buys the shares of the company that is trying to take it over. A
merger is an occasion when two or more companies or organizations join together to form a larger company.
a takeover which involves gradually buying shares of a company from different shareholders until you have enough to take control of their company, rather than making an offer to all shareholders to buy a fixed number of shares at a fixed price:
• The company has denied it is plotting a creeping takeover.
a takeover that the company being taken over wants or agrees to:
• The Executive Board resolved to submit a friendly takeover bid for a 100% interest in the Canadian steel producer.
• Target companies may deploy various methods in order to protect themselves against a hostile takeover.
a takeover using borrowed money. The assets of the company being taken over are used as
security for the loans taken out by the buying company and the repayments are made from the
cash flow (= money going into the business) of the company taken over, or from selling some of its assets:
• a $2.4 billion leveraged takeover
the takeover of a larger company by a smaller one, or a takeover in which the company that has been taken over controls the new organization:
• The company has finally secured its future with a successful reverse takeover.
• The webserver went offline beause of an unfriendly takeover.
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Acquisition of a controlling interest in a company through the purchase of its shares.
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takeover UK US /ˈteɪkˌəʊvər/ noun [C]
► FINANCE »
The company has agreed an $11.5bn takeover.
friendly/hostile takeover »
In hostile takeovers, the employees of the target firm are often concerned about losing their jobs.
takeover of sth »
the takeover of British toymakers by American multinationals
takeover candidate/target »
The dramatic rise in the stock price made it a less attractive takeover target.
takeover attempt/proposal »
They are expected to receive a takeover proposal from a US-based multinational.
»
The company announced it was in takeover talks.