Lara Antal/Investopedia
The term mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refers to the consolidation of companies or their major business assets through financial transactions between companies. A company may purchase and absorb another company outright, merge with it to create a new company, acquire some or all of its major assets, make a tender offer for its stock, or stage a hostile takeover. All are M&A activities.
The term M&A also is used to describe the divisions of financial institutions that deal in such activity.
The terms mergers and acquisitions are often used interchangeably, however, they have slightly different meanings.
When one company takes over another and establishes itself as the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition.
On the other hand, a merger describes two firms, of approximately the same size, that join forces to move forward as a single new entity, rather than remain separately owned and operated. This action is known as …