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.
Beech Island is an unincorporated community of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. It appears to take its name from Beech Island, a nearby former island that is politically part of Georgia but geographically separated from the rest of Georgia by a river which changed its bed. It was preceded by the trading post and fort at Savannah Town. Another popular explanation for the name of the community comes from the fact that beech trees populate the "high-land" bluff along the Savannah River where the community is located. Of course, how "high-land" was shortened to "island" is as much a mystery as the origin of the community's name. Beech Island's most famous resident was the late James Brown who lived there for the last few decades of his life on a 60-acre estate.