A hybrid method of acquiring a company by combining a tender offer with a merger. In the first step, the buyer initiates a tender offer to acquire at least a majority of the outstanding target company’s stock. In the second step, the buyer completes a back-end merger to acquire the balance of the target company’s stock.

For a form of merger agreement to use in a two-step merger, see Standard Document, Merger Agreement (Tender Offer, Pro-Buyer).