acquisition

noun

ac·qui·si·tion | \ˌa-kwə-ˈzi-shən

Definition of acquisition

1 : the act of acquiring something acquisition of property the acquisition of knowledge

2 : something or someone acquired or gained The team announced two new acquisitions.

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Other Words from acquisition

acquisitional \-shnəl,

-shə-nᵊl \ adjective

acquisitor \ə-ˈkwi-zə-tər

\ noun

Examples of acquisition in a Sentence

Steven Schwartzman, the billionaire CEO of Blackstone, suffers no personal liquidity problems. But his firm, and others like it—have had to call off a series of proposed acquisitions because they can't get financing. — Daniel Gross, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2008 The gifting of books, too, endured as a legacy of our book hunting. I quickly learned not to ask for newly published books as birthday or Christmas presents, since they provided my father with too little of a challenge. The measure of a gift's value was the amount of thought and effort that went into its acquisition. — Charles Mitchell, Bloomsbury Review, November/December 2002 Although some believe that the rise of advertising and strip malls have fostered slavish devotion to shopping where it didn't exist before, Hine posits that the acquisition of objects has a firm place in humanity's history. — Publishers Weekly, 7 Oct. 2002 McKnight and Ward, free-agent acquisitions who each have only one full season as a starter, have brought much-needed speed to the position. But rookie Chris Chambers, a second-round draft pick from Wisconsin, is the jewel. — Jeffri Chadiha, Sports Illustrated, 1 Oct. 2000 the country's acquisition of new ships The big company's newest acquisition is a small chain of clothing stores. The museum has put its latest acquisitions on display.

Recent Examples on the Web

The appeals court revived the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to a grocery store acquisition by Whole Foods Market. — Drew Fitzgerald, WSJ, "Justice Department Appeals Ruling Allowing AT&T-Time Warner Merger," 12 July 2018 For the next several years, Scott chaired the company through a rocky period that included acquisitions and growth, relinquishing control only after he was elected governor in 2010. — Mary Ellen Klas, miamiherald, "Rick Scott and family made $550M in one transaction. How 'blind' is his blind trust?," 11 July 2018 The dealer repeatedly failed to maintain accurate acquisition and disposition records, according to the ATF, but the revocation recommendation was later overturned in lieu of a warning conference. — Megan Cassidy, SFChronicle.com, "ATF records show how 6 Northern California gun shops ran afoul of the law," 1 July 2018 The county uses half of the annual revenue generated by the 1 percent real estate transfer tax to fund agricultural preservation programs — the other half goes to school construction, land acquisition and school construction debt. — David Anderson, The Aegis, "Harford council approves 22 properties for ag preservation," 25 June 2018 Matthews and Middleton only have honorary titles—the Laird and Lady of Glen Affic—due to Matthews's father's land acquisition. — Eileen Reslen, Town & Country, "Why Pippa Middleton and James Matthews's Baby Will Not Inherit a Royal Title," 19 June 2018 The offseason trade market figures to be robust with only few teams having the cap space to make significant acquisitions via free agency. — Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press, "Who's leading Detroit Pistons front office? Ed Stefanski - for now," 19 June 2018 From Comcast's bid for 21st Century Fox to CVS's acquisition of Aetna, massive corporations increasingly have sought to expand their reach by buying up companies in different lines of business. — The Washington Post, OregonLive.com, "AT&T wins court approval for $85.4 billion Time Warner deal," 12 June 2018 Prior to the acquisition, Instagram, which was widely seen as a threat to Zuckerberg's Facebook empire, had 30 million users available on Apple's iOS. — Chris Ciaccia, Fox News, "Why US teens are ditching Facebook," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acquisition.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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1 Oct 2018

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The first known use of acquisition was in the 15th century

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More Definitions for acquisition

acquisition

noun

Financial Definition of acquisition

What It Is

An acquisition is the purchase of all or a portion of a corporate asset or target company.

How It Works

An acquisition is commonly mistaken with a merger – which occurs when the purchaser and the target both cease to exist and instead form a new, combined company.

When a target company is acquired by another company, the target company ceases to exist in a legal sense and becomes part of the purchasing company. Acquisitions are commonly made by using cash or debt to purchase outstanding stock, but companies can also use their own stock by exchanging it for the target firm's stock. Acquisitions can be either hostile or friendly.

For example:

Let's assume Company XYZ wants to acquire Company ABC. Company XYZ starts to buy ABC shares on the open market, but once Company XYZ acquires 5% of ABC, it must formally (and publicly) declare to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) how many shares it owns. Company XYZ must also state whether it intends to buy ABC or just hold its existing shares as an investment.

If Company XYZ wants to proceed with the acquisition, it will make a "tender offer" to ABC's board of directors, followed by an announcement to the press. The tender offer will indicate, among other things, how much Company XYZ is willing to pay for ABC and how long ABC shareholders have to accept the offer.

Once the tender offer is made, ABC can accept (1) the terms of the offer, (2) negotiate a different price, (3) use a "poison pill" or other defense to avert the deal, or (4) find another company, who hopefully will pay as much or more as XYZ is offering, to buy them.

If ABC accepts the offer, regulatory bodies then review the transaction to ensure the combination does not create a monopoly or other anti-competitive circumstances within the industries involved. If the regulatory bodies approve the transaction, the parties exchange funds and the deal is closed.

Why It Matters

Companies acquire target companies as a growth strategy because it can create a bigger, more competitive, and more cost-efficient entity. This synergy -- the idea that the two companies together are more valuable to the shareholders than they are apart -- is elusive, but it is the idea used to justify most acquisitions. A well-executed acquisition can be the crowning jewel of a CEO's career.

Knowing how to analyze acquisitions can put individual investors in a great position to profit from the stock price fluctuations that accompany them.

Click here to learn How to Play the Buyout Game: 3 Tips for Finding the Best Deals

Source: Investing Answers

acquisition

noun

ac·qui·si·tion | \ˌa-kwə-ˈzi-shən