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 company became an investor favorite after growing rapidly through acquisitions between 2012 and 2015 in the U.S. and Europe. — Jennifer Smith, WSJ, "XPO Logistics Dropped Acquisition Bid After Short-Seller Report, CEO Says," 13 Mar. 2019 Read, who started working at Pfizer in 1978 as an auditor, spent much of his tenure as CEO trying to pull off mega-acquisitions, the strategy that had enabled Pfizer to leapfrog to the top among U.S. drugmakers. — Linda A. Johnson, The Seattle Times, "Drugmaker Pfizer’s CEO Read to be replaced by COO Bourla," 1 Oct. 2018 Seven years later, the company added Waukesha, which takes its name from a city in Wisconsin, through the acquisition of Dresser. — Richard Clough, BostonGlobe.com, "GE speeds disposals on $3.25b sale of gas-engine business," 25 June 2018 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced plans to rebuild its own captive finance arm either via a start-up or through an acquisition. — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "How to plan for next round of Fed interest rate hikes," 9 June 2018 Depending on the outcome, the case may encourage Vestberg to grow the company through the acquisition of a media company, a strategy the wireless carrier has mostly avoided in the past. — Jonnelle Marte, chicagotribune.com, "Verizon names chief technology officer as new CEO," 8 June 2018 That’s a tall order at a time when Amazon’s entry into the $860 billion grocery business, with the 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods, has utterly rewritten the rules of grocery retailing and put traditional players on the defensive. — Paul Roberts, The Seattle Times, "Kroger hopes Redmond QFC pilot with Microsoft will make it ‘retailer of the future’," 7 Jan. 2019 Eversource, which bought Aquarion Water Co. last year and is looking for another, similar acquisition, jumped in with a $750 million offer. — Stephen Singer, courant.com, "Connecticut Water: Eversource Pushes 'Misinformation Campaign' In Purchase Attempt," 13 July 2018 Eight new acquisitions — gifts from the artist’s nephew, Ken Hakuta — form the core of this small exhibition of roughly 20 art objects and a variety of ephemera. — Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "Nam June Paik turned technology into art — and vice versa," 11 July 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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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