noun
- plural of greenmail; the practice of buying a large block of a company's stock and threatening a hostile takeover to force the company to buy back the shares at a premium price
Usage: finance; business
verb
- third-person singular present tense of greenmail; to engage in the practice of greenmail against a company
Usage: finance; business
Examples
- The investor greenmails the corporation by acquiring a significant stake and demanding a premium buyback.
- Several greenmails in the 1980s prompted new regulations to protect companies from hostile takeover threats.
- The company paid millions to stop the activist from greenmailing them with a takeover bid.
- Greenmails became a controversial tactic during the corporate raid era of the 1980s.
- The board decided to fight back rather than submit to greenmails from the aggressive investor.