greenmail

American  

[green-meyl] / ˈgrinˌmeɪl /

noun

Stock Exchange.

1. the practice of buying a large block of a company's stock in order to force a rise in stock prices or an offer by the company to repurchase that block of stock at an inflated price to thwart a possible takeover bid.

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greenmail British  

/ ˈɡriːnˌmeɪl /

noun

1. (esp in the US) the practice of a company buying sufficient shares in another company to threaten takeover and making a quick profit as a result of the threatened company buying back its shares at a higher price

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Other Word Forms

• greenmailer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of greenmail

green (in sense “money”) + (black)mail