In a tender offer (public takeover bid) a party makes a public offer to the shareholders to sell their shares at a fixed price. A tender offer can be classified as a voluntary corporate action as shareholders can choose whether or not to accept the offer. An ’exchange offer’ is a special tender offer where shares or other non-cash alternatives are offered instead of cash.
If the majority of the shares are tendered - i.e., the majority of the shares have been offered for sale under the tender offer's conditions - during the first tender period, a second and often last tender period is initiated. If a majority of these outstanding shares are tendered at the end of the second tender period, the acquiring company may decide to delist the shares from the stock exchange. In case investors do not tender or sell their shares in the market, they might risk ending up with a delisted and non-tradeable position. If this is the case we are not able to sell your shares as they are no longer publicly traded on the stock exchange.
What is a squeeze out?
In some cases, the acquiring company may initiate a so-called squeeze out, in which any non-tendered shares may still be acquired via a compulsory takeover by the acquiring company. There is no guarantee a squeeze out will always occur. It generally takes over one year after the delisting date for any squeeze out to be initiated.
All relevant information on a company's corporate actions can be found on the company's Investor Relations page.