LEVERAGED RECAPITALIZATION

A corporate strategy by which a company will borrow a significant sum of money. Using the borrowed fund, the company will pay a large cash dividend to existing shareholders and/or repurchase own stock shares, making the firm less attractive to hostile takeover target. This strategy usually involves selling the equity and borrowing or refinancing the debt.

This leads to asset and/or liability restructuring, where the firm’s liabilities are increased and equity is decreased. In mergers and acquisitions, these are often called shark repellents, since these are designed to fend off unwanted takeover attempts. Also known as leveraged recap.