acquisition (M&A)
in English: acquisition / mergers and acquisitions
An acquisition occurs when a company buys all or a controlling stake of another company, thereby gaining its products, specialists, and clients.
In plain terms
Imagine a large bakery does not spend years experimenting with its own sourdough bread but buys the corner artisan bakery: recipe, bakers, and regular customers included. Acquisition works the same way between companies: the buyer pays with money or its own shares to gain control of another enterprise.
In the AI industry, this is one of the fastest ways to grow. Building a good model, a proven agent, or a well-coordinated research team takes years, but buying them can take months. That is why you so often read that a major tech company acquired an AI startup with only a few dozen employees.
The English abbreviation M&A combines two things. In a merger, two companies merge as roughly equal partners; in an acquisition, one buys the other. In everyday news, the two are often blurred.
How it works
- Targeting: the buyer decides what is needed (technology, specialists, customer base, data, or elimination of a competitor) and finds the company that fits.
- Due diligence: the buyer's experts review the target's finances, contracts, and lawsuits. In the case of an AI company, they also check who owns the code, what data the model was trained on, and whether everything is legally compliant.
- Pricing and agreement: the parties agree on the price and payment method (cash, shares, or a mix) and on how long key personnel must stay.
- Regulatory approval: larger deals are examined by competition authorities—in our case, the Hungarian Competition Authority, and at EU level, the European Commission. They may prohibit the deal or attach conditions.
- Integration: after the closing, the harder part comes, merging systems, teams, and products. At this point, it is decided whether the acquired product remains independent, is integrated into a larger one, or ceases to exist.
An everyday example
You have been using a clever AI note-taking app for months when you receive an email: the company has been acquired by a large technology firm. The app's name, price, and data processing terms may change, or the service may cease in a few months, with its features appearing in another product.
Who is affected
A common misconception
Limits and risks
- The announcement is not yet a completed deal: authorities may block it, parties may withdraw, and closing can take months or years.
- With a purchased service, your data may also go to a new owner, so read the new data processing terms.
- If a few giant companies buy up promising AI startups one after another, competition declines, which in the longer run may mean more expensive and narrower choice.
- The purchase price reported in the news is often an estimate and is paid partly in shares or tied to future performance.
Similar, but not the same
- merger (fusion) – In a merger, two companies become one legally: a new joint company is formed, or one absorbs the other. In an acquisition, the purchased company may remain a separate entity, with only its owner changing.
- investment (equity acquisition) – The investor typically receives only a minority stake, and the company remains independent, while the acquirer gains control.
- strategic partnership – Partners cooperate based on a contract but remain separate companies from an ownership perspective.
Related concepts
corporate strategy, capital market, versenyjog
team acquisition (acquihire), hostile takeover
due diligence, venture capital, startup, initial public offering, company valuation, market concentration
A brief history
The first major wave of mergers took place in the United States in the late 1890s and early 1900s, when a series of industries merged into giant corporations. One symbolic deal of the AI era is Google's acquisition of the British research company DeepMind in 2014.
Where things stand
Acquisition has long been a standard business tool, and it is particularly active in the AI industry: big tech companies buy startups that develop models, agents and research teams. Workaround deals are also spreading, in which the buyer does not purchase the company but buys a licence and takes over the key people; competition authorities are watching these more and more closely.
In the news
- Agilent completes Proscia acquisition for up to $270mNov 4, 2026 · Health
- Publicis completes LiveRamp acquisition; clients can build their own AI systemsNov 2, 2026 · Marketing
- New GEO and AI visibility tools launch: OptimizeGEO, Keytomic, Heading, Yext–Flamel.aiNov 2, 2026 · Marketing
- Harvey makes acquisition, announces partnership and launches new features for law firmsNov 2, 2026 · Jog
- US Justice Department examines Nvidia's $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging FaceOct 28, 2026 · Agent Age
- Acquisition and investment boost AI-based transaction monitoring and AML testingOct 28, 2026 · Money
- AI visibility market grows: Coty–Brandlight, Marketbridge acquisition, Joveo and GEO start-upsOct 26, 2026 · Marketing
- Anthropic enters drug development with an acquisition, six industry partners and an IPO filingOct 26, 2026 · Health
Also known as
acquisition · company acquisition · acquisition · M&A · mergers and acquisitions · acquisition · mergers and acquisitions · takeover
Sources
This entry was machine-edited and has undergone machine expert review; the “In the news” section updates automatically from Agent Age stories.