Ethical Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS-AN OVERVIEW:
The phrase mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company (in a given industry) grow rapidly without having to create another business entity.
In legal terminology, mergers and acquisitions can be defined as follows:
• Merger: A full joining together of two previously separate corporations. A true merger in the legal sense occurs when both businesses dissolve and fold their assets and liabilities into a newly created third entity. This entails the creation of a new corporation.
• Acquisition: Taking possession of another business, also called a takeover or buyout. It may be share purchase (the buyer buys the shares of the target company from the shareholders of the target company. The buyer will take on the company with all its assets and liabilities. ) or asset purchase (buyer buys the assets of the target company from the target company). Although they are often uttered in the same breath and used as though they were synonymous, the terms merger and acquisition mean slightly different things. A purchase deal will also be called a merger when both CEOs agree that joining together is in the best interest of both of their companies. But when the deal is unfriendly - that is, when the target company does not want to be purchased - it is always regarded as an acquisition.
Whether a purchase is considered a merger or an acquisition really depends on whether the purchase is friendly or hostile and how it is announced. In other words, the real difference lies in how the purchase is communicated to and received by the target company's board of directors, employees and shareholders. It is quite normal