Tender offer

A tender offer is a public invitation for shareholders to sell their stock at a specific price, usually higher than the current market price. You'll encounter this when one company wants to buy another, or when a company wants to buy back its own shares. It matters because it's a way to acquire a large chunk of ownership quickly—the buyer sets a deadline and a price, and shareholders decide whether to take the deal. For example, if TechCorp offers to buy all shares of SoftwareInc at $50 per share when they're trading at $40, that's a tender offer. Shareholders then have a window to decide: sell now at the guaranteed price, or hold out hoping for something better.