In theory, the more shares you have on issue, the greater the...

In theory, the more shares you have on issue, the greater the number of shareholders. This is because of lower barriers to enter for any potential investor (both real and perceived barriers).

Personally, I can't afford to invest in Berkshire Hathaway at $212,000 USD per share, but I can certainly invest in Xped at 5cents a share. Now that's a real barrier for me and limits my ability to be an investor in BRK.A. However some people actually shy away from investing in companies with a high share price as they perceive them to be "expensive" or that only being able to afford a handful of shares is somehow less of an investment than being able to afford a large number of shares -- even if the two have the same value. So the more shares you have on issue, the lower the share price you have for your market cap, and the greater the number of shareholders (in theory).

The greater the number of shareholders, the more people you have to convince to part ways with their shares and approve the acquisition. The more people you have to convince, the greater the difficulty...