Merger & Acquisition

Mergers and acquisitions (abbreviated M&A) are both aspects of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or new location, without creating a subsidiary, other child entity or using a joint venture. Mergers and acquisitions activity can be defined as a type of restructuring in that they result in some entity reorganization with the aim to provide growth or positive value.

The distinction between a "merger" and an "acquisition" has become increasingly blurred in various respects (particularly in terms of the ultimate economic outcome), although it has not completely disappeared in all situations. From a legal point of view, a merger is a legal consolidation of two companies into one entity, whereas an acquisition occurs when one company takes over another and completely establishes itself as the new owner (in which case the target company still exists as an independent legal entity controlled by the acquirer). Either structure can result in the economic and financial consolidation of the two entities. In practice, a deal that is an acquisition for legal purposes may be euphemistically called a "merger of equals" if both CEOs agree that joining together is in the best interest of both of their companies, while when the deal is unfriendly (that is, when the target company does not want to be purchased) it is almost always regarded as an "acquisition".

Acquisition

An acquisition or takeover is the purchase of one business or company by another company or other business entity. Such purchase may be of 100%, or nearly 100%, of the assets or ownership equity of the acquired entity. Consolidation occurs when two companies combine together to form a new enterprise altogether, and neither of the previous companies remains independently. Acquisitions are divided into "private" and "public" acquisitions, depending on whether the acquiree or merging company (also termed a target) is or is not listed on a public stock market. An additional dimension or categorization consists of whether an acquisition is friendly or hostile.

Top 10 M&A deals worldwide by value from 2000 to 2010

Rank Year Purchaser PurchasedTransaction value

(in USD

1 2000

Fusion: AOL Inc. (America Online)[39]

[40] Time Warner 1,64,74,70,00,000

2 2000Glaxo Wellcome Plc. SmithKline Beecham Plc.

75,96,10,00,000

3 2004Royal Dutch Petroleum Company

"Shell" Transport & Trading Co.

74,55,90,00,000

4 2006AT&T Inc.[41][42] BellSouth Corporation 72,67,10,00,000

5 2001Comcast Corporation AT&T Broadband 72,04,10,00,000

6 2009Pfizer Inc. Wyeth 68,00,00,00,000

7 2000Spin-off: Nortel Networks Corporation

  59,97,40,00,000

8 2002Pfizer Inc. Pharmacia Corporation

59,51,50,00,000

9 2004JPMorgan Chase & Co.[43] Bank One Corporation 58,76,10,00,000

10 2008 InBev Inc. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

52,00,00,00,000

Other M&A deals worldwide by value from 2010 to 2014

Year Purchaser Purchased Transaction value (in USD)

2011 Google Motorola Mobility 9,800,000,000

2011 Microsoft Corporation

Skype 8,500,000,000

2011 Berkshire Hathaway Lubrizol 9,220,000,000

2012 Deutsche Telekom MetroPCS 29,000,000,000

2013 Softbank Sprint Corporation 21,600,000,000

2013 Berkshire Hathaway H. J. Heinz Company

28,000,000,000

2013 Microsoft Corporation

Nokia Handset & Services Business

7,200,000,000

2014 Facebook WhatsApp 19,000,000,000