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.
North Providence is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 32,411 at the 2000 census. The town has the distinction of being the smallest by area (5.8 square miles) in the smallest state (1,214 square miles). Though at only 1.29 square miles (3.3 km), the city of Central Falls is Rhode Island's smallest municipality. Warren holds the title for smallest town (8.6 square miles) in the smallest county (45 square miles) of the smallest state. Despite its small footprint, North Providence has the eighth-highest population of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns, and the second-highest of the state's towns after Coventry, Rhode Island's largest municipality by land area.