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

Flustered and unfamiliar with the ways of Wall Street, Miller's regime wound up paying Steinberg $52 million in greenmail to sell back his Disney stock and let them alone.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a greenmail deal, a raider sells his shares in a target company back to the firm for a premium not available to other shareholders.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of Icahn's partners in the Phillips struggle is Saul Steinberg, 45, an expert in the fine art of greenmail.

From Time Magazine Archive