Just like going into battle during World War II, a blitzkrieg (German for lightning war) is a takeover offer that is so attractive to shareholders that the acquirer hopes they can bypass the board of directors to get approval.
So yeah...think: lightning fast. A blitzkrieg tender offer is available "For a Limited Time Only!!!" For example, if a target company’s current stock price is $10, a blitzkrieg tender offer might be for $15, hoping they can acquire at least 51% of the shares.
The Williams Act of 1968 defeated the blitzkrieg tactic by requiring the company wanting to take over to provide details in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. In the filing, they have to say where the cash to buy is coming from (i.e. probably shouldn't be from a bank heist), and plans for the company after the takeover. The acquiring company must also give at least 20 business days for the target company to respond to the offer.
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Finance: What is the Williams Act?5 Views
finance a la shmoop what is the Williams Act
well it's 28 Grand Slam singles titles 26 in doubles eight Olympic gold medals [William's sisters career stats appear]
a successful designer clothing company and an interior design firm yeah like
you really thought shmoop wouldn't go there for this one come on the Williams
Act the financial one is actually about making acquisitions or takeovers fair
and square you know like a tennis court before 1968 when the Williams Act 1.0 [People playing tennis]
was enacted mega glopped gargantuan strollers could launch a takeover bid
for micro Corp shakers Rattlers and Hum to make a vertically integrated
near-monopoly in baby hardware the bid could have come in on a Thursday giving [Bid appears on calendar]
shareholders 48 hours to respond with say a 20% premium over the current share
price take it by noon Monday or leave it in the deal's off the table shareholders
would then have to quickly scramble to figure out this was no is this a fair [Woman scrambling away]
deal a steal or something else done just to disrupt the market well a bunch of
companies were quote stolen unquote this way with boards having to scramble and [Robber running away from police]
often ending up with less than optimal or full value that they were supposed to
get for their shareholders who they represent so the Williams Act came along
and required there to be a whole range of filings and disclosures whenever a
public takeover was announced like the price the terms the mix of stock and
cash what the newly composed company would look like it's out its out cetera
and it also required that there be at least five days from when the initial [Five days on calendar highlighted]
takeover was announced to there being any kind of definitive agreement and
then quickly investors realized that five days wasn't long enough so less
than a decade later yeah things move slowly in a financial regulatory world [Cash falling]
the Williams Act pause button was extended to 20 days and that's where
things stand today so yeah the Williams Act ensures [Williams act stamped fairness]
fairness or at least it tries to and that fairness you know which cannot be
said for the taking no prisoners Williams sisters those two do not know
the meaning of mercy [Tennis ball hits girl on the head]
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