Do Shareholder Tender Agreements inform or expropriate shareholders?

► A Shareholder Tender Agreement (STA) pre-commits a shareholder to tender her shares to a particular bidder. ► In a sample of tender offers between 1995 and 2010, 60% contain an STA. ► STAs are associated with lower premiums, greater ownership concentration, management ownership, and information asymmetry. ► The results support the hypothesis that STAs certify value to uninformed shareholders. ► The results do not support the hypothesis that STAs expropriate value from shareholders of target companies.