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.
Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated area located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of Orbital Sciences Corporation and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc. and AOL are located in Dulles. Dulles covers roughly the southwestern third of Sterling, Virginia (another unincorporated community). The usage of Dulles as a community name began in the mid-1980s when Loudoun County economic development officer Pam Treadwell successfully lobbied the United States Postal Service to allow Sterling businesses and residents to use Dulles as an alternate address. The USPS defines Dulles as an "acceptable" city name for the 20166 zip code, whose "actual" city name is Sterling. The addresses for shipping parcels to United States embassies and consulates, as well as their employees worldwide, are located in Dulles, Virginia 20189. The USPS city name for zipcode 20189 is Dulles. Washington Dulles International Airport is located partially in Dulles (although its postal address uses the Sterling name instead) and partially in Fairfax County. The community derives its name from the airport; the airport in turn takes its name from former United States Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (1888–1959).