Liquidation: Occurs when a firm's business is terminated. Assets are sold, proceeds are used to pay creditors, and any leftovers are distributed to shareholders.
So, under a Change of Control scenario, the company would owe them $800 million. To pay them, the company would have to liquidate their assets (i.e. the shares of the subsidiary companies), as they would otherwise NOT have $800 million to pay. The liquidation then triggers the preferential treatment of the preferreds.
That is the way I see it.
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