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.
Ankeny is a city in Polk County, Iowa. The population was 27,118 at the 2000 census. A special census taken by the city in 2005 counted 36,161 residents, while the United States Census Bureau estimated that 42,287 residents lived there in 2008. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.