ACQUISITIONS: An ‘acquisition’ or ‘takeover’ is the purchase by one person, of controlling interest in the share capital, or all or substantially all of the assets and/or liabilities, of the target. A takeover may be friendly or hostile, and may be effected through agreements between the offer or and the majority shareholders, purchase of shares from the open market, or by making an offer for acquisition of the target’s shares to the entire body of shareholders.
MERGER: A ‘merger’ is a combination of two or more entities into one; the desired effect being not just the accumulation of assets and liabilities of the distinct entities, but organization of such entity into one business. The possible objectives of mergers are manifold – economies of scale, acquisition of technologies, access to sectors / markets etc. Generally, in a merger, the merging entities would cease to be in existence and would merge into a single surviving entity.
LAWS TO BE CONSIDERED IN CASE OF M&A
ANALYZING MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
One of the biggest steps in the M&A process is analyzing and valuing acquisition targets. This usually involved two steps: valuing the target on a standalone basis, and valuing the synergies of the deal. When it comes to valuing synergies, there are two types: hard and soft. Hard synergies are direct cost savings to be realized after completing the merger and acquisition process and soft synergies are revenue increases hoped to be realized after the deal closes.
