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

Example Sentences

Fiss said that companies often try to make corporate raiders go away quietly by paying a premium for the shares they acquired, a practice known as greenmail.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2022

Maybe the evidence was weak, and GE paid the equivalent of greenmail just to make the SEC go away.

From BusinessWeek • Feb. 10, 2011

Widening its probe of illegal insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed unsettling new details of the Ivan Boesky case, while disputes flared over the use of so-called greenmail tactics in takeover battles.

From Time Magazine Archive

Manhattan Financier Saul Steinberg earned $60 million that year by buying 11.1% of Walt Disney Productions and then reselling it to the company at a premium, a practice known as greenmail.

From Time Magazine Archive

Pickens' spectacular gains have led critics to charge that he is really an adept practitioner of "greenmail."

From Time Magazine Archive