In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid.
The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corporation (the target corporation) to tender their stock for sale at a specified price during a specified time, subject to the tendering of a minimum and maximum number of shares.
It covers such matters as: In the United States, under the Williams Act, codified in Section 13(d) and Section 14(d)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, a bidder must file Schedule TO with the SEC upon commencement of the tender offer.
Among the matters required to be disclosed in schedule TO are: (i) a term sheet which summarizes the material terms of the tender offer in plain English; (ii) the bidder's identity and background; and (iii) the bidder's history with the target company.
The consummation of a tender offer resulting in payment to the shareholder is a taxable event triggering capital gains or losses, which may be long-term or short-term depending on the shareholder's holding period.