Company doesn't has to buy all the shares, only th

Company doesn't has to buy all the shares, only the remaining shares.

Taking the 200m you mention as example (I think there are more), if they already have 180m, then they only have to pay for 20m shares.

Are there 20m shares out there in the market? No, there are more. The extra ones are the air shares from the naked sorts. Shortie has to pay for them, similar to a divi. If there are 100m in the open market, the company pays for 20m, shorts pay for the other 80m.

Now suppose the company has 250m. 200m outstanding shares and has an extra 50m from naked shorts. Retail investors another 50m (to use the same example of 100m in the open market). The company can offer a buyout and instead of paying, it would be receiving money form shorts covering. Shorts have to pay for 50m to the company and another 50m to retail investors.

If the latter is the case, it would be fascinating. That's one of the risks of shorting. On top of the financial loses, shortie is caught doing something illegal (naked shorting).

IMHO

Always, always do you own DD. Only invest funds you can afford to lose and trust nobody but yourself.