Acting In Concert

Okay, so let’s pretend that you’re going to a concert, and you want to get your friends to go, too. Your goal is to influence the number of people who head to the gig. You’ll call up your most reliable friends and ask them to join you. If they’re awesome friends, they’ll say yes. But don’t be secretive about your dealings. Otherwise, you might have a lot of explaining to do, and you might greatly irk the members of the band.

The same goes for “acting in concert” in the financial world. In short, if you want to acquire parts of a company (shares) and make a lasting impression, you’ll ask your influential friends and business buddies to take the exact same actions that you do...with a goal of creating a unified end-result.

That said, there are times when you must declare your intentions to avoid violating securities laws. In other words, never act in concert without consulting with your attorney first. This move could violate the law if you directly harm a third-party, or if you fail to state your intentions in accordance with the percentages required by law.