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.
New Hope is a city in Madison County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population is 2,539. Originally named Cloud's Town in 1829 by its founder William Cloud, it was incorporated in 1832 under the name of Vienna. Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Reed of the 12th Indiana Calvary seized the town on May 29, 1864 during the American Civil War. Vienna was burned by the Union Army on December 15, 1864. All that remained were the post office and Masonic Lodge. Since there was already a post office called Vienna in southern Alabama, the rebuilt city was incorporated in 1883 as New Hope, taking its name from the New Hope Methodist Church.