21.4 HOSTILE VERSUS FRIENDLY TAKEOVERS
In the vast majority of merger situations, one firm (generally the larger of the two) simply decides to buy another company, negotiates a price with the management of the target firm, and then acquires the target company. Occasionally, the acquired firm will initiate the action, but it is much more common for a firm to seek compa- nies to acquire than to seek to be acquired. Following convention, we call a company that seeks to acquire another firm the acquiring company and the one that it seeks to acquire the target company.
Once an acquiring company has identified a possible target, it must (1) establish a suitable price, or range of prices, and (2) decide on the terms of payment—will it offer cash, its own common stock, bonds, or some combination? Next, the acquiring firm’s managers must decide how to approach the target company’s managers. If the acquiring firm has reason to believe that the target’s management will approve the merger, then one CEO will contact the other, propose a merger, and then try to work out suitable terms. If an agreement is reached, then the two management groups will issue statements to their stockholders indicating that they approve the merger, and the target firm’s management will recommend to its stockholders that they agree to the merger. Generally, the stockholders are asked to tender (or send in) their shares to a designated financial institution, along with a signed power of attorney that transfers ownership of the shares to the acquiring firm. The target firm’s stockholders then receive the specified payment, either common stock of the acquiring company (in which case the target company’s stockholders become stock- holders of the acquiring company), cash, bonds, or some mix of cash and securities. This is a friendly merger. The P&G–Gillette merger is an example.
Often, however, the target company’s management resists the merger. Perhaps they feel that the price offered is too low, or perhaps they simply want to keep their jobs. Regardless of the reasons, in this case the acquiring firm’s offer is said to behostile rather than friendly, and the acquiring firm must make a direct appeal to the target firm’s stockholders. In a hostile merger, the acquiring company will again make a tender offer, and again it will ask the stockholders of the target firm to tender their shares in exchange for the offered price. This time, though, the target firm’s managers will urge stockholders not to tender their shares, generally stating that the price offered (cash, bonds, or stocks in the acquiring firm) is too low.
Chapter 21: Mergers, LBOs, Divestitures, and Holding Companies 833
Although most mergers are friendly, there are cases in which high-profile firms have attempted hostile takeovers. For example, Wachovia defeated a hostile bid by SunTrust and was acquired, instead, by First Union. Looking overseas, Olivetti successfully conducted a hostile takeover of Telecom Italia, and, in another hostile telecommunications merger, Britain’s Vodafone AirTouch acquired its German rival, Mannesmann AG.
Perhaps not surprisingly, hostile bids often fail. However, an all-cash offer that is high enough will generally overcome any resistance by the target firm’s management. A hostile merger often begins with a “preemptive” or “blowout” bid. The idea is to offer such a high premium over the pre-announcement price that (a) no other bid- ders will be willing to jump into the fray and (b) the target company’s board cannot simply reject the bid. If a hostile bid is eventually accepted by the target’s board then
the deal ends up as “friendly,” despite any acrimony during the hostile phase.
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