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Mergers and acquisitions

Takeovers, all-stock mergers and big share and bond raises: how deals are priced, why spreads open up and what they do to both stocks.

A takeover changes two stocks at once. The target usually jumps toward the offer, the buyer often falls on the cost or the dilution, and in an all-stock deal the two prices stay tied together through the exchange ratio until the deal closes or breaks.

Between announcement and closing, the gap between the offer and the target price, the deal spread, measures what the market thinks could go wrong: shareholder votes, competition reviews and financing. Our coverage follows the terms, the spreads and the regulatory milestones, along with the large stock and bond sales companies use to pay for growth.