Ask HN: Can preferred share holders take greater payout on sale of business?

Upon sale of the company, can common shares be de-valued relative to preferred shares? I.e. can preferred share holders take a greater percentage of the buyout to achieve better returns? I've got some common shares that are valued significantly less than the initially reported price-per-share a couple weeks ago (when the deal was closing). I figured the only way that PPS of common stocks could go down – with the buyout being greater than the amount invested (the investments were convertible-note) – was if the buyout amount was reduced during final negotiations. However, I've been told that the preferred share holders decided to take bigger returns, leaving the common share holders with a lower PPS.