Saturday Night Special
 |
Definition of 'Saturday Night Special'An obsolete takeover strategy where one company attempted a takeover of another company by making a sudden public tender offer, usually over the weekend. This merger and acquisition (M&A) technique was popular in the early 1970s when the Williams Act required only seven calendar days between the time that a tender was publicly announced and its deadline. Catching the target company off guard and over the weekend, effectively reducing its time for a response, often afforded the acquiring company an advantage. |
 |
Investopedia explains 'Saturday Night Special'A tender offer is basically an attempt to takeover control of a company by asking shareholders to sell their shares at a specified price (usually above market). If enough shareholders sell their shares, the takeover is complete. The Saturday Night Special was effective when the Williams Act required a minimum of seven days between the public announcement of the tender and its deadline. When the time period was extended to 20 days, this technique failed to be the quick strike it was originally intended to be. In addition, acquisitions of 5% or more of equity now need to be disclosed to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). |
Related Definitions
Articles Of Interest
-
Mergers And Acquisitions: Understanding Takeovers
In the dramatic world of M&As, battleground terms meld with bizarre metaphors to form the language of the game. -
Finding Success Where Indicators Fail
Trade what you see: Follow the charts, buy breakouts and honor stops. We'll look at a case study to show you how. -
Trade Takeover Stocks With Merger Arbitrage
This high-risk strategy attempts to profit from price discrepancies that arise during acquisitions. -
Trademarks Of A Takeover Target
These tips can lead you to little companies with big prospects. -
Pinpoint Takeovers First
Use these seven steps to discover a takeover before the rest of the market catches on. -
What happens to the stock prices of two companies involved in an acquisition?
When a firm acquires another entity, there usually is a predictable short-term effect on the stock price of both companies. In general, the acquiring company's stock will fall while the target ... -
The Basics Of Mergers And Acquisitions
Learn what corporate restructuring is, why companies do it and why it sometimes doesn't work. -
War's Influence On Wall Street
Blitzkrieg? Dawn raids? Sounds like the markets and the battlefield have a few things in common. -
Cashing In On Corporate Restructuring
Companies use M&As and spinoffs to boost profits - learn how you can do the same. -
Nokia Buys Out Siemens, Are Phones Now On The Block?
In buying Siemens' share of Nokia Siemens Network, Nokia may have just bought its future
Free Annual Reports