When ‘ramps’ hoist those all‐paper bids Available to Purchase

Shareholders in a company which is about to be taken over should be wary of an ‘all‐paper’ bid, where there is no cash alternative. For there is evidence to suggest that the practice of ‘ramping’—where the bidder gets acquaintances to buy heavily in his own company's shares to artificially boost the offer value—is on the increase.