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.
Gerrardstown is an unincorporated village located along West Virginia Route 51 in Berkeley County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. It was laid out in 1784 by David Gerrard and served as the site of the first Baptist church west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gerrardstown was designated as a National Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Many of the village's original buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries remain. According to the 2000 census, the Gerrardstown community has a population of 3,565.