Merger vs. Acquisition — What's the Difference?

The act or an instance of merging

An asset or object bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum

An absorption of one corporation by another, with the corporation being absorbed losing its separate identity and governance.

The learning or developing of a skill, habit, or quality

(Law) An absorption of a lesser estate, contract, criminal offense, right, or liability into a succeeding larger one, resulting in the extinction of the former.

The act of acquiring.

One that merges.

Something acquired or gained

The act or process of merging two or more parts into a single unit.

The act or process of acquiring.

(economics) The legal union of two or more corporations into a single entity, typically assets and liabilities being assumed by the buying party.

The thing acquired or gained; a gain.

(legal) An absorption of one or more estate(s) or contract(s) into one other, all being held by the same owner; of several counts of accusation into one judgement, etc.

(computing) The process of sampling signals that measure real world physical conditions and converting these signals into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer.

(phonology) A type of sound change where two or more sounds merge into one.

The act or process of acquiring.

One who, or that which, merges.

The purchase of one commercial enterprise by another, whether for cash, or in a trade of stock of the purchasing company for that of the purchased company.

An absorption of one estate, or one contract, in another, or of a minor offense in a greater.

The thing acquired or gained; an acquirement; a gain; as, learning is an acquisition.

The combining of two groups into a unified single group under a single leadership, with voluntary participation by the leaders or management of both groups.

The act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something;

The combining of two commercial enterprises into a unified single enterprise under a single management, with voluntary participation by both parties; as, the merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler into Daimler-Chrysler created a powerful competitor in the automobile manufacturing industry. Compare acquisition and takeover.

Something acquired;

The combination of two or more commercial companies

The cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge;

An occurrence that involves the production of a union

An ability that has been acquired by training