Acquisition

Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities.

To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service.

For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something.

There are many ways to acquire or to take the acquisition of property and services.

How Companies Utilize Acquisitions

In finance, the term acquisition is most often used when referring to taking control of a company. An acquisition can be either an agreed deal or a hostile takeover.

Companies also may acquire units of a company, property, or other assets.

An acquisition is when one business, person, or company purchases most if not of another company's shares to gain control of that company.

Buying more than 50% of a target firm's stock and other assets allows the acquirer to make decisions about the newly acquired assets without the approval of the company's shareholders.

In finance, there are several types of acquisitions that one speaks of when referring to Acquisitions and Mergers.

A horizontal acquisition is when two companies come together with similar products/services. Conversely, a vertical acquisition means two companies join forces in the same industry, but they are at different points on the supply chain.

Moreover, a conglomerate represents two companies in different industries join forces, or one takes over the other to broaden their range of services and products.

Finally, a concentric acquisition occurs when companies will share customers but provide different services.