Mini-Tender

A type of third-party offer made to a company's shareholders as an attempt to purchase the underlying shares. Unlike conventional tenders, mini-tenders usually involve less than 5% of a company's outstanding shares and typically represent a discount compared to the stock's current market price.

Mini-tenders typically are frowned upon by the investment community because many of the procedures and regulations associated with tenders do not apply to them. Shareholders who are approached with a mini-tender should be extremely diligent in evaluating the offer, as the terms of the mini-tender may not necessarily be beneficial to the investor.

For example, mini-tenders are not required to file any documentation with the SEC (such as the offer and information about the offering company), which makes disclosure an issue. Furthermore, most mini-tenders do not allow shareholders the right to withdraw from the mini-tender after initially agreeing to do so.