A takeover would depend how it was done. Often, a company will announce that it intends to take over a smaller company and puts in a bid for the shares on market. For example, Maxwardco wants to take over XYZco. Maxward has a zillion dollars in the bank. XYZco has 10 million shares valued at $1 each on today's market. Maxwardco announces that it wants to acquire XYZco for 15 million dollars ($1.50 per share) and puts an order on market for 10,000,000 shares at $1.50.
If I hold XYZco shares I can sell them on market and make a quick profit, or I can wait, hoping that most holders will also wait, anticipating that Maxwardco will offer more, which they generally will. They may then increase the offer and make it $1.60 per share, and holders may or may not sell. Also, seeing that Maxwardco wants XYZco, I may buy shares at a higher price than Maxwardco's bid, knowing Maxwardco wants them and will possibly offer more (for example, buying for $1.51 just after the initial announcement is generally a pretty safe strategy; you'll probably turn a quick profit and if not you'll probably get $1.50 and only make a small loss).
Once Maxwardco has 50% of the shares it's pretty much game over because they control all the votes on everything.
The decision of shareholders will be influenced by the company directors. If the directors say 'Our company is worth at least $2 per share' the holders may not sell. If they say 'this is a good deal, we welcome the offer', it'll almost certainly go through quickly (this rarely happens, generally they won't recommend holders to take the first offer).
If the takeover is successful, shareholders who don't sell on market end up having a more complicated process of having their shares taken away and being paid for them in another way. If the attempt is unsuccessful, it's unsuccessful.
Alternatively, there can be mergers where XYZco may be worth about the same as Maxwardco and XYZ shares get converted into MXC shares, which is usually subject to shareholder approval.
There are variations on these and other possibilities. Generally speaking, it goes through at a premium price to the market price over the previous few weeks or months. Holders may be happy or sad. For example, if TNT was taken over for 35c now, some holders would celebrate their profit while others would furiously oppose it and mourn the lost opportunity to ride them to 80c. My average buy is under 10c and I only first looked at TNT last month so I couldn't cry too hard, but I definitely don't want it to happen. I'm guessing a takeover at this point would need to be around 40c to be successful.
Incidentally, be wary of falling in love with any stock! I'm definitely fond of TNT and think it has a long way to go, but always keep an open mind and remember that unconditional love is not your friend and won't be reciprocated by the market.
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