Tender is a public solicitation from a government, institution or private entity that invites bids for a project or contract. This process is usually used for awarding large infrastructure or construction projects, or for the purchase or supply of goods or services, such as the supply of raw materials.

The entity publishing the tender will issue a request for tender (RFT) containing clear specifications and requirements for the project or contract. The company submitting the tender must prepare a bid based on these specifications. This bid typically includes all costs associated with the project or contract, as well as delivery and other relevant information.

The entity issuing the tender will evaluate all received bids and choose the one that is most suitable based on criteria such as cost, quality, and delivery. All companies that submitted a tender are entitled to receive the reason why their bid was unsuccessful.

In the case of takeovers, a tender offer is issued by the entity that wants to acquire another company. This offer is sent to all shareholders of the target company, inviting them to submit their shares within a certain period in exchange for the promised offer price. After this period, the company evaluates all received shares and pays the promised price per share to the shareholders that accepted the offer.

Investors buy government securities through a tender process. Depending on the size of the investor, the process is either competitive or non-competitive. Smaller investors can access securities through non-competitive tendering, while institutional investors must usually participate in the competitive tendering process. In the competitive tendering process, investors can bid for an amount of securities below or above the amount requested by the government. The government evaluates all bids and awards the securities to the investor with the highest offer.

In summary, tender process is a widely used public procurement system for awarding projects, contracts or exchanging shares, and is used by a wide range of entities, including private companies, governments, financial institutions and investors. It is an important tool for creating a fair exchange between the entities involved.