what is a stalking horse candidate 
in politics a stalking horse candidate is a sham candidate put forward to conceal another candidate or divide the opposition 2 in a bankruptcy proceeding a stalking horse candidate is an interested buyer of the bankrupt company that is chosen by the company and put forward for approval by the bankruptcy court by being allowed to set the initial bid which other interested bidders cannot go below it does in a sense divide the opposition by perhaps making it less likely that they will bid at all if they consider the initial bid too high the bottom linea stalking horse is chosen by a bankrupt company to put in an initial bid on its assets the bankruptcy court must approve the choice and the bid the assets are then opened up to other bidders who must make a higher bid to succeed in acquisition of said assets being a stalking horse bidder has its perks which include having control of many aspects of the bidding situation and fail safe fees in the event that its bid doesn t win however the downside is that the role comes with higher initial costs incurred by extensive negotiations and conducting due diligence upon which other bidders can then capitalize in making their bids 