In the law of corporations, a merger is effected when one or more corporations becomes a part of, or merges, with another corporation so that one ceases to exist and the other continues to exist. In a merger, the company that continues to exist retains its name and identity and acquires the assets, liabilities, franchises, and powers of the corporation that ceases to exist. Attorneys who practice in mergers and acquisitions (sometimes called M & A) represent corporations and other business entities in strategizing, negotiating, and carrying out transactions in which two or more companies or corporations combine into a single new entity, a merger, or where one business purchases and absorbs the assets of another, an acquisition.
Olive Branch is an unincorporated community in Alexander County, Illinois, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 62969. The population of the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) for ZIP Code 62969 was 879 at the 2000 census. Olive Branch is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.