Participating preferred stock

Participating preferred stock is preferred stock that provides a specific dividend that is paid before any dividends are paid to common stock holders, and that takes precedence over common stock in the event of a liquidation. This form of financing is typically used by private equity investors and venture capital (VC) firms. Holders of participating preferred stock have the choice between two payoffs: a liquidation preference or an optional conversion. In a liquidation, they first get their money back at the original purchase price, the balance of any proceeds is then shared between common and participating preferred stock as though all convertible stock was converted.

More from: Wikipedia