Legal Definition of Acquisition

Becoming the owner of a particular property; The act by which one acquires or acquires ownership of anything. Also used by the purchased item. Initial acquisition is when ownership of the thing arises from occupation or accession (q.v.,) or from the creative work of the individual, as in the case of patents and copyrights. Derivative acquisition occurs when ownership of an item passes from one person to another. This can happen by the act of law, as in cases of forfeiture, bankruptcy, inheritance, judgment, marriage or succession, or by the act of the parties, as in cases of gift, sale or exchange. The acquisition of one company by another in order to achieve certain strategic objectives in terms of revenues, market share, product/service offerings or competition. An acquisition may be structured as a stock acquisition, where the acquiring company offers investors in the target company a certain price for their common shares, or as an asset acquisition, where the acquiring company offers to purchase part or a majority of the target company, according to Merriam-Webster`s Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Licensed with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

Supported by Black`s Law Dictionary, Free 2nd ed., and The Law Dictionary. The act of buying or owning property. Acquisition, in the context of the business, refers to the fact that one company buys a majority stake in another, but both retain their identity. Acquisitions require a lot of time and money and are associated with many uncertainties. Less than half of the transactions initiated to buy a particular business are actually completed. The steps are as follows:.