Do mergers and acquisitions mean the same thing?

Legal analysis: acquisition refers to an economic behavior that a company obtains a certain degree of control over other companies through property rights transactions to achieve certain economic goals; M&A refers to two or more independent enterprises, which merge into one enterprise, usually a dominant company merges one or more companies. M&A generally refers to merger and acquisition. The difference between them lies in: first, acquisition is a form of merger and acquisition; Secondly, in addition to acquisition, M&A can also adopt the method of merger. Merger, also known as absorption merger, refers to the merger of two independent legal persons with the merged company, and the legal person qualification of the merged company disappears, and its rights and obligations such as property, creditor's rights and debts are generally transferred to the merged company, and the merged company needs to go through the company change registration accordingly. However, acquisition means that the acquirer gains control of the target company, and the legal personality of the target company does not necessarily die out. When the acquirer is a company, the target company becomes a subsidiary of the acquirer.

Legal basis: People's Republic of China (PRC) Company Law.

Article 6 To establish a company, it shall apply to the company registration authority for registration of establishment according to law. Those that meet the conditions for establishment as stipulated in this Law shall be registered as limited liability companies or joint stock limited companies respectively by the company registration authority; Those who do not meet the conditions for establishment as stipulated in this Law shall not be registered as a limited liability company or a joint stock limited company.

Where laws and administrative regulations stipulate that the establishment of a company must be approved, the approval procedures shall be handled according to law before the company is registered.

The public may apply to the company registration authority to inquire about the registered items of the company, and the company registration authority shall provide inquiry services.

Article 7 A company established according to law shall be issued a business license by the company registration authority. The date of issuance of the business license of the company is the date of establishment of the company.

The company's business license shall specify the company's name, domicile, registered capital, business scope, name of legal representative and other matters.

Where the matters recorded in the company's business license change, the company shall register the change according to law, and the company registration authority shall issue a new business license.