lock-up option
- noun
- /ˈlɑkˌʌp ˈɑpʃən/
- Formal
:
opción de bloqueo
- Activating the lock-up option allowed the investor to buy key assets before the hostile bidder could.
Examples
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The company granted a lock-up option to the white knight as part of its defense strategy.
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During merger negotiations, a lock-up option was included to make the offer more attractive to the friendly investor.
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The lock-up option was approved.
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The board approved the new lock-up option to protect the company.
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Activating the lock-up option allowed the investor to buy key assets before the hostile bidder could.
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During merger negotiations, a lock-up option was included to make the offer more attractive to the friendly investor.
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The company granted a lock-up option to the white knight as part of its defense strategy.
Surface Forms
Morphology
lock-up + option
This meaning is a specialized corporate/financial/legal sense that a B1 learner who only knows the surface constituents ('lock'/'up' and 'option') would not predict; the phrase refers to a tactical contractual right to sell key assets to a friendly investor, which is jargon rather than a straightforward compositional meaning. The headword 'lock-up' here is a technical term and the metaphorical reference to 'crown jewels' increases opacity, so the overall MWE is not derivable from its parts for average learners.
Etymology
Lock-up option comes from the image of a company 'locking up' its most valuable parts and giving a friendly buyer the right to buy them first. The lock-up keeps rivals out and the option is the promise to sell to that friend, so the deal helps block a 'hostile takeover'.
