Corporate Argumentation in Takeover Bids -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Dedication page -- Table of contents -- Acknowledgements -- chapter 1 -- Introduction -- 1.1 The argumentative dimension of corporate takeovers -- 1.2 Objective of the study and research questions -- 1.3 The UK takeover market -- 1.4 Structure of the book -- The argumentative intervention in context -- 2.1 Argumentation as a context-situated communicative activity -- 2.1.1 The argumentative situation -- 2.1.2 Inference, dialectic and rhetoric -- 2.1.3 Comparison with the main approaches to corporate financial communication -- 2.2 Building an analytical toolkit for the reconstruction of contextualized argumentative interactions -- 2.2.1 The four stages of an ideal critical discussion and its empirical counterparts -- 2.2.2 The Argumentum Model of Topics: Constitutive components -- 2.2.3 Linking the analytic overview to the inferential configuration -- Eliciting argumentative situations in takeover bids -- 3.1 The takeover transaction and its main phases -- 3.2 Argumentative exigencies of the bidder and the target directors -- 3.2.1 The desirability of a takeover from the bidder's perspective -- 3.2.2 The position of the target directors -- 3.2.3 Argumentation in pre-offer negotiations: A case in point -- 3.2.1 Possible outcomes of the pre-offer phase -- 3.3 The audience of the directors' argumentative discourse -- 3.3.1 A complex interaction field -- 3.3.2 Shareholders: The decision-makers -- 3.3.3 Financial analysts and journalists as secondary audiences -- 3.3.4 The communicative role of non-financial stakeholders -- 3.4 Argumentatively relevant constraints in takeover regulation -- 3.4.1 Raison d'être of takeover regulation in the UK context -- 3.4.2 Announcements and documents from the bidder -- 3.4.3 The target Board's reasoned opinion.

3.4.4 The setting up and disciplining of two argumentative interaction schemes -- 3.5 A more comprehensive model of the takeover process -- The offer procedure as an argumentative activity a type -- 4.1 Case selection and procedure for the argumentative analysis -- 4.2 Speech events of the offer period -- 4.3 Macro-analysis of the main text typologies -- 4.3.1 The firm intention announcement and the offer document -- 4.3.2 The defense document -- 4.4 Argumentative characteristics in the communicative interactions of the offer period -- 4.4.1 The initial situation -- 4.4.2 Starting points -- 4.4.3 Argumentative means -- 4.4.4 Possible outcomes -- 4.5 Friendly and hostile offers as kindred argumentative activity types -- The argumentative coordination in friendly offers -- 5.1 The target Board's justification of the recommendation -- 5.1.1 Justifying the recommendation by explaining a decision -- 5.1.2 Preparing for the argumentation stage in the offer's description -- 5.1.3 Backgrounding the recommendation to dispel adverse implications -- 5.1.4 Combining financial and social-organizational values -- 5.1.5 Levering on the means of payment for topical choices -- 5.2 The bidder's justification of the envisaged acquisition -- 5.2.1 Renouncing to declare the main standpoint -- 5.2.2 Showing coherence with the announced corporate strategy -- 5.2.3 Presenting the combination as a happy joint action -- 5.3 Directors' co-protagonism as the friendly offer's strategic maneuvering -- The argumentative opposition in hostile bids -- 6.1 The hostile bidder's argumentative approach -- 6.1.1 Assuming an advisory role -- 6.1.2 The offer price as one component of a win-win deal -- 6.1.3 An opportunity to realize the investment -- 6.2 The target defense strategy -- 6.2.1 Framing the bid as a malevolent act -- 6.2.2 Focusing the topical choice on financial aspects.

6.2.3 Price inadequacy and good standalone prospects: A strategic ambiguity? -- Refuting the endoxical basis of the opposite argumentation -- 7.1 Strategic maneuvers in the discussions over the adequacy of the offer price -- 7.1.1 Criticizing the assumptions behind relative valuation -- 7.1.2 Questioning expert opinions -- 7.2 Arguing for a particular interpretation of managers' past actions -- Conclusion -- 8.1 Review and assessment of the main findings -- 8.1.1 The takeover bid as an argumentative context -- 8.1.2 The bidder and the target board's argumentative strategies -- 8.2 On financial communication -- 8.3 Open questions for future research -- References -- Index of figures -- annex 1 -- List of cases and relevant information -- Name index -- Subject index.