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.
Damascus is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. In the early part of the 20th century, there was an incorporated municipality there for about a quarter century, but it no longer exists. The name "Damascus" comes from a reference in the Bible, presumably to Damascus, Syria, and was first used in an official document in 1816, when the United States Congress approved a postal route through the area, operated by Edward Hughes.