Company promoted illegal seizure of power (4)
I believe the answer is:
coup
'seizure of power' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'company promoted' is the wordplay.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'promoted' becomes 'up' (moving up).
'co'+'up'='COUP'
'illegal' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for coup that I've seen before include "Hostile takeover" , "Violent seizure of power" , "Putsch" , "A sudden exploit or rebellion" , "Successful exploit or action" .)