Black Knight
A black knight is an unwelcome bidder pursuing a hostile or opposed takeover of a target company.
Corporate raider, black knight, grey knight, and white knight terms used in takeover contests.
Takeover Actors and Knights covers mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, SPAC transactions, deal consideration, takeover bids, defenses, divestitures, restructurings, turnarounds, and control transactions.
Use these pages when a transaction changes ownership, control, valuation, financing, assets, liabilities, shareholder rights, or business scope. It sits inside Takeover Bids and Acquirers, so readers can move up when the broader company-finance context matters.
Use the table below to choose the narrower corporate-finance branch before applying a term to a model, board memo, financing analysis, transaction review, or risk assessment. Move into the term page when the evidence source, calculation, agreement, filing, account, or governance right matters.
| Area | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Black Knight | A black knight is an unwelcome bidder pursuing a hostile or opposed takeover of a target company. |
| Corporate Raider | An investor known for conducting hostile takeovers to gain control and profit from selling off a company\\u2019s assets. |
| Grey Knight | Takeover bidder whose intentions or expected effect are less clearly favorable than a white knight or hostile bidder. |
| White Knight | A white knight is a friendly acquirer invited to rescue a target from an unwanted hostile bidder. |
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A black knight is an unwelcome bidder pursuing a hostile or opposed takeover of a target company.
An investor known for conducting hostile takeovers to gain control and profit from selling off a company\\u2019s assets.
Takeover bidder whose intentions or expected effect are less clearly favorable than a white knight or hostile bidder.
A white knight is a friendly acquirer invited to rescue a target from an unwanted hostile bidder.