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.
Central is a town in Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. Contrary to its name, it is not at all near the central area of South Carolina. The population was 3,522 at the 2000 census. It received its name from its geographic location, being the halfway or central point between Atlanta and Charlotte along the former Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway line. Central has several very large apartment complexes primarily housing students from nearby Clemson University, as well as from Central's own Southern Wesleyan University. South Carolina's senior U.S. senator Lindsey Graham was born and raised in Central. Mac Martin is the mayor of Central. The town is part of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.