Definition
A police raid is a visit by police or other law enforcement officers often in the early morning or late at night, with the aim of using the element of surprise to arrest suspects believed to be likely to hide evidence, resist arrest, be politically sensitive, or simply be elsewhere during the day.
Dawn Raid
What is a ‘Dawn Raid’
A dawn raid is when a firm or investor buys a substantial number of shares in a company first thing in the morning when the stock markets open. Because the bidding company builds a substantial stake in its target at the prevailing stock market price, the takeover costs are likely to be significantly lower than they would be had the acquiring company first made a formal takeover bid.
Explaining ‘Dawn Raid’
Like the dawn raid in war, the corporate dawn raid is done early in the morning, so by the time the target realizes it’s being attacked, it’s too late – the investor has already scooped up some controlling interest. However, only a minority interest in a firm’s shares can be bought this way. So, after a successful dawn raid, the raiding firm is likely to make a takeover bid to acquire the rest of the target company.
Further Reading
- The 'unfinished business' of Malaysia's decolonisation: The origins of the Guthrie 'dawn raid' – www.cambridge.org [PDF]
- The London dawn raid and its effect on Malaysian plantation workers – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
- Sustaining edges: CSR, postmodern play, and SMEs – www.sciencedirect.com [PDF]
- Are EU dawn raid procedures on a collision course with the ECHR? Does a cautionary tale from Canada offer guidance? – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
- Adapt or divest? The new economic policy and foreign businesses in Malaysia (1970-2000) – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
- Repression and Black Liberation, by Chokwe Lumumba With Introduction by Akinyele Umoja – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
- Putin and the oligarchs – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
