Glossary Β· Regional
Employee tender offer
Definition
A company-organized liquidity event where employees and early investors can sell a set amount of stock to approved buyers at one negotiated price, typically timed around a funding round or a vesting milestone.
Why it matters for a secondary
It's the most common APAC secondary structure outside India's OFS-heavy market β Canva's $42B tender and ByteDance's recurring buyback both follow this pattern.
How it works in practice
The company sets a window, a price and eligibility rules, then approved buyers purchase from employees who choose to participate. Price is usually anchored to the most recent primary round, participation is capped per person, and the company controls the whole process β which is what distinguishes a tender from a private sale an employee arranges alone.
A concrete illustration
A company runs a tender at the last round's price with a cap of 20% of each holder's vested shares. An employee with a large vested position can sell only a fifth of it, and the rest remains illiquid until the next window β so a plan that depends on selling a specific amount can fail on the cap alone.
What people most often get wrong
If the tender is oversubscribed, everyone is scaled back proportionally, and the amount you actually sell is smaller than the amount you requested. Check whether the pool is likely to be oversubscribed before treating a tender as a plan rather than an opportunity.
Frequently asked questions
Can employees sell shares outside a tender offer?
Does the tender price represent the company's value?
Orientation for investors and allocators, not legal or financial advice. Rules in this market change β confirm the current position with a licensed adviser in Regionalbefore acting on anything here.