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Article: Mergers and Acquisitions
- Article from:
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Methods by which corporations legally unify ownership of assets formerly subject to separate controls.
A merger or acquisition is a combination of two companies where one corporation is completely absorbed by another corporation. The less important company loses its identity and becomes part of the more important corporation, which retains its identity. A merger extinguishes the merged corporation, and the surviving corporation assumes all the rights, privileges, and liabilities of the merged corporation. A merger is not the same as a consolidation, in which two corporations lose their separate identities and unite to form a completely new corporation.
Federal ...