A corporate transaction where one company takes over another.
An acquisition is a strategic transaction where one company purchases most or all of another company's shares or assets to gain control. The acquiring company integrates the target company's operations, assets, and liabilities into its own, often to expand market share, diversify product offerings, or achieve cost synergies. This process can be friendly, with mutual agreement between the boards of directors, or hostile, where the acquirer pursues the deal against the target company's management's wishes.