What is 'Saturday Night Special'

An obsolete takeover strategy where one company attempted a takeover of another company by making a sudden public tender offer, usually over the weekend. This merger and acquisition (M&A) technique was popular in the early 1970s when the Williams Act required only seven calendar days between the time that a tender was publicly announced and its deadline. Catching the target company off guard and over the weekend, effectively reducing its time for a response, often afforded the acquiring company an advantage.

Explaining 'Saturday Night Special'

A tender offer is basically an attempt to takeover control of a company by asking shareholders to sell their shares at a specified price (usually above market). If enough shareholders sell their shares, the takeover is complete. The Saturday Night Special was effective when the Williams Act required a minimum of seven days between the public announcement of the tender and its deadline. When the time period was extended to 20 days, this technique failed to be the quick strike it was originally intended to be. In addition, acquisitions of 5% or more of equity now need to be disclosed to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

Further Reading

The day the United States defaulted on treasury bills
onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
… In a popular Saturday Night Live comedy routine, Steve Martin and Amy Poehler listen to a … Articles in the two special issues of Journal of Consumer Affairs on financial literacy—the … and Smith reported research results in which high school courses in economics and business …

Saving Justice: Watergate, the Saturday Night Massacre, and other adventures of a solicitor general
www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
… In a popular Saturday Night Live comedy routine, Steve Martin and Amy Poehler listen to a … Articles in the two special issues of Journal of Consumer Affairs on financial literacy—the … and Smith reported research results in which high school courses in economics and business …

Topics in Finance: Part VIII-Mergers and Acquisitions
papers.ssrn.com [PDF]
… In a popular Saturday Night Live comedy routine, Steve Martin and Amy Poehler listen to a … Articles in the two special issues of Journal of Consumer Affairs on financial literacy—the … and Smith reported research results in which high school courses in economics and business …

Alec Baldwin's appearances on
www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
… In a popular Saturday Night Live comedy routine, Steve Martin and Amy Poehler listen to a … Articles in the two special issues of Journal of Consumer Affairs on financial literacy—the … and Smith reported research results in which high school courses in economics and business …