acquisition

Acquisitions, like mergers, involve the changed ownership of companies. While a merger refers to the combination of two or more companies to create a new business entity, an acquisition describes the situation of a company taking over another business. Therefore, acquisitions do not result in a new company like mergers. Acquisitions may occur to allow a company to reach different audiences or to compete in a new market that they previously lacked access to. For example, Google acquired Android in 2005 for over $50 million dollars, which allowed Google to work within the cell phone market for the first time.