1. Merger & Acquisition

2. 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.

3. 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".

4. 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.

5. Top 10 M&A deals worldwide by value from 2000 to 2010 RankYearPurchaserPurchased Transaction value (in USD 12000 Fusion: AOL Inc. (America Online) [39][40] Time Warner 1,64,74,70,00,000 22000 Glaxo Wellcome Plc. SmithKline Beecham Plc. 75,96,10,00,000 32004 Royal Dutch Petroleum Company "Shell" Transport & Trading Co. 74,55,90,00,000 42006AT&T Inc. [41][42] BellSouth Corporation 72,67,10,00,000 52001 Comcast CorporationAT&T Broadband 72,04,10,00,000 62009 Pfizer Inc.Wyeth 68,00,00,00,000 72000 Spin-off: Nortel Networks Corporation 59,97,40,00,000 82002 Pfizer Inc. Pharmacia Corporatio n 59,51,50,00,000 92004 JPMorgan Chase & Co. [43] Bank One Corporation 58,76,10,00,000 102008 InBev Inc. Anheuser- Busch Companies, Inc. 52,00,00,00,000

6. Other M&A deals worldwide by value from 2010 to 2014 YearPurchaserPurchased Transaction value (in USD)USD 2011GoogleMotorola Mobility9,800,000,000 2011 Microsoft Corporation Skype8,500,000,000 2011Berkshire HathawayLubrizol9,220,000,000 2012Deutsche TelekomMetroPCS29,000,000,000 2013SoftbankSprint Corporation21,600,000,000 2013Berkshire Hathaway H. J. Heinz Company 28,000,000,000 2013 Microsoft Corporation Nokia Handset & Services Business 7,200,000,000 2014FacebookWhatsApp19,000,000,000