what is a bear hug 
a bear hug is an offer to buy a publicly listed company at a significant premium to the market price of its shares it is an acquisition strategy designed to appeal to the target company s shareholders bear hugs are used to pressure a reluctant company s board to accept the bid or risk upsetting its shareholders unsolicited in nature a bear hug bidder makes it difficult for the target s board to refuse by offering a price well above the pursued company s market value understanding bear hugsbear hugs are unsolicited takeover bids but to qualify as one the offer must include a meaningful premium to the market value of the target company s stock because company boards have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company and its shareholders refusing a rich premium risks lawsuits proxy contests and other forms of shareholder activism bear hugs can be a costly strategy for the acquirer as such they occur when the target company s board has either rejected or would be expected to reject such an advance necessitating a direct appeal to shareholders at a minimum bear hugs force the targeted company s leadership to explain why the bid to say nothing of the market undervalues their stock and what the company intends to do about the low valuation a bear hug puts incumbent management on the defensive and focuses attention on the company s share price one company chief executive on the receiving end of the tactic described it as a gradual rolling dispiriting of the opposition the whole idea of a bear hug is that it becomes an inevitable self fulfilling prophecy 1a bear hug offer though usually financially favorable is not solicited by the target company advantages and disadvantages of a bear huga bear hug allows the acquirer to present its bid directly to shareholders bypassing the targeted company s board the downside for the pursuer is that the tactic is unlikely to result in friendly talks with the incumbent management and board who may seek a white knight deal with a different buyer viewed as more acceptable shareholders of a company who receive a bear hug benefit from the prospect of a higher share price on offer even if it doesn t lead to a quick deal a bear hug puts pressure on a company s board and management to get the share price above that offered by the bear hugger a bear hug implies incumbent management and board members are not interested in a friendly deal and absent a formal tender offer a bear hug has no sure way to overcome that resistance this acquisition tactic has the potential to distract managers and directors of the targeted company to the ultimate detriment of its business and all stakeholders including the bear hugger if they are successful whether directly or by implication a bear hug draws critical attention to the company s current management and share price if the bear hug is ultimately successful incumbent managers are likely to face an ouster from the new owners they might have to content themselves with golden parachutes triggered by change of control provisions in their executive pay agreements acquirer can go directly to the shareholderspotential for offer of deal with higher share pricedistracts and draws critical attention to management and share pricemanagement may be ousted if the bear hug is successfulexamples of bear hugsbear hugs can happen when a company s stock falls on hard times or simply because the acquirer places a high value on the targeted business elon musk s unofficial offer to buy twitter now x in april 2022 at an 18 premium to its market value but a 22 discount to twitter s share price a year earlier was described as a bear hug 2 musk eventually succeeded taking over the company in oct 2022 for 44 billion 3 the company changed its name to x corp in april 2023 and the platform changed its name to x in july 2023 45earlier examples include none of those efforts ultimately succeeded 