A term of British origin used to describe the purchase of all available shares of a target company at the market's open by a raider. A dawn raid is a surprise technique that allows the raider to gain a substantial share of the target company before the target company knows what is happening. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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dawn raid ˌdawn ˈraid noun [countable]
FINANCE when a company suddenly buys a large number of shares in another company at the start of trading on a stock exchange, in an attempt to get control of it:
• A dawn raid gives the board of the target company little time to react or advise its shareholders.
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Buying a large block of stock in a short time, usually for the buyer to position himself in a possible or actual takeover. The purchase often takes place at the start of a trading day.
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dawn raid UK US noun [C] UK STOCK MARKET
► a situation in which a company unexpectedly buys a lot of shares in another company as soon as the stock market opens: »
Panic gripped the electricity sector after a dawn raid on a UK electricity company by a big American energy group.
Financial and business terms. 2012.