WeWork’s Rescue Wasn’t Real

One way to acquire a public company is, you put out a press release saying “I am making a public offer to buy all the shares of this company,” and that press release starts a complex process in which the company’s board feels compelled to negotiate a deal with you, or if they don’t then you follow through on the press release and launch a hostile tender offer for the shares. The press release is a key moment in the campaign, the point where you go public, but it is preceded by lots of preparation and followed by lots of tactical maneuvering. The acquisition of a public company is difficult and complex and typically requires many hours of work from hundreds of people to get everything done.

The press release is easy, though? You can just type it? Business Wire seems to charge several hundred dollars for disseminating a press release, so it’s not free, but if you pay Business Wire’s fees it’ll be picked up pretty broadly and everyone will think that you are launching your effort to buy the company. And so if you want to pretend to acquire a public company, you can just do the press release and not all the other parts.