Dictionary:

merger

  (mûr'jər)

1. The act or an instance of merging; union.
2. The union of two or more commercial interests or corporations.
3. Law. The absorption of a lesser estate, liability, right, action, or offense into a greater one.

The combining of two or more companies, generally by offering the stockholders of one company securities in the acquiring company in exchange for the surrender of their stock.

Investopedia Says:
Basically, when two companies become one. This decision is usually mutual between both firms.

Related Links:
Learn how to invest in companies before, during and after they join together. The Merger - What To Do When Companies Converge
When major corporate transactions have a big impact on the currency markets, you can benefit. Mergers And Acquisitions - Another Tool For Traders
Companies use M&As and spinoffs to boost profits - learn how you can do the same. Cashing In On Corporate Restructuring
Learn what corporate restructuring is, why companies do it and why it sometimes doesn't work. The Basics Of Mergers And Acquisitions
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Combination of two or more companies, where the amount paid over and above the acquired company's book value is carried on the books of the purchaser as goodwill; or a consolidation, where a new company is formed to acquire the net assets of the combining companies. Strictly speaking, only combinations in which one of the companies survives as a legal entity are called mergers or, more formally, statutory mergers; thus consolidations, or statutory consolidations, are technically not mergers, though the term merger is commonly applied to them. Where an acquisition takes place by the purchase of assets or stock using cash or a debt instrument for payment, the merger is a taxable capital gain to the selling company or its stockholders.

Mergers can also be classified in terms of their economic function. Thus a horizontal merger is one combining direct competitors in the same product lines and markets; a vertical merger combines customer and company or supplier and company; a market extension merger combines companies selling the same products in different markets; a product extension merger combines companies selling different but related products in the same market; a conglomerate merger combines companies with none of the above relationships or similarities. See also Acquisition.

The fusion of 2 or more interests, such as businesses or investments.
Examples: Examples of mergers are:

• conglomerates-corporations that are not customers or suppliers to each other or competitors

• corporations-union of 2 or more by transferring property to one that survives, and issuing its shares to stockholders of the corporation that ceases to exist

noun

Something produced by mixing: admixture, amalgam, amalgamation, blend, commixture, fusion, mix, mixture. See assemble/disassemble.

Definition: consolidation
Antonyms: breakup, division, parting, separation, split

For more information on merger, visit Britannica.com.

The combination or fusion of one thing or right into another thing or right of greater or larger importance so that the lesser thing or right loses its individuality and becomes identified with the greater whole.

In contract law, agreements are merged when one contract is absorbed into another. The merger of contracts is generally based on the language of the agreement and the intent of the parties. The merger of contracts is not the same as a merger clause, which is a provision in a contract stating that the written terms cannot be varied by prior or oral agreements.

Estates affecting ownership of land are merged where a greater estate and a lesser estate coincide and are held by the same individual. For example, merger occurs when a person who leases land from another subsequently is given ownership of it upon the death of the lessor who has so provided in his will.

In criminal law, the commission of a major crime that includes a lesser offense results in the latter being merged in the former. For example, the crime of rape includes the lesser offense of sexual abuse which is merged into one prosecution for rape.

See: lesser included offense.

The union of two or more independent corporations under a single ownership. Also known as takeovers, mergers may be friendly or hostile. In the latter case, the buying company, having met with resistance from directors of the targeted company, usually offers an inflated (overmarket) price to persuade stockholders of the targeted company to sell their shares to it. Such mergers often have been financed by junk bonds.

Quotes:

"I always said that mega-mergers were for megalomaniacs." - David Ogilvy

Dansk (Danish)
n. - sammenslutning, fusion

Nederlands (Dutch)
fusie, incorporatie, vermenging, samenvoeging

Français (French)
n. - fusion d'entreprises, fusionnement

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zusammenschluß, Fusion

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (οικον.) συγχώνευση επιχειρήσεων

Italiano (Italian)
fusione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - fusão (f)

Русский (Russian)
объединение, поглощение, новация

Español (Spanish)
n. - fusión, unión

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - uppgående, sammanslagning

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
合并, 归并

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 合併, 歸併

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 합치기, 합병

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 合併, 合同

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) دمج, اندماج, أداة للدمج‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מיזוג, בעיקר בין חברות מסחריות, התמזגות, איחוד נחלות, כלילה של עבירה קטנה בגדולה ממנה‬

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