What is a Competitive Tender?

In the trade of securities, a competitive tender is an auction or bidding process through which securities are purchased by institutional investors and corporations. In a competitive tender, the highest bidder is awarded the newly issued securities. There are certain rules guiding competitive tender, most importantly, all bids by investors and corporations must be submitted at a predetermined date.

This term is used in the construction industry to describe a procurement method used by construction companies and contractors where a tender is submitted for the supply of goods and services.