greenmail

Meanings

Plural: greenmails

Noun

• (corporation) the practice of purchasing enough shares in a firm to threaten a takeover and thereby forcing the owners to buy those shares back at a premium in order to stay in business
• The profiting from an attempted hostile takeover by forcing the target company to buy back the hostile bidder's shares at an inflated price.

Verb

• To profit from an attempted hostile takeover by forcing the target company to buy back the hostile bidder's shares at an inflated price.

Related Words

blackmail