Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are both aspects of strategic management, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or new location, without creating a subsidiary, other child entity or using a joint venture.

Methods to pursue a strategy can be divided into three categories: internal growth, external growth (mergers, acquisitions, disposals) and collaboration (alliances and partnerships). Of course, these conditions can also affect other policies, such as the consolidation of a competitive position or the establishment of an advantage through economies of scale. In this task, we will focus on mergers and acquisitions.

1) Definitions:
An acquisition corresponds to the repurchase of an organization by another organization, while a merger is the decision mutually granted by organizations to share their ownership. Most of the acquisitions are friendly: both parts get on the terms of the repurchase, and the direction of the target recommends to his(her) shareholders to accept the offer. However, certain acquisitions are hostile: the buyer proposes then a price to the shareholders of the target against the advice of his managers. The choice of the shareholders is then decisive.
The direction(management) of Cadbury so initially rejected the hostile offer of Kraft by looking for a more friendly buyer, for Hershey. Mergers and acquisitions are also possible in the public sector and between non-profit organizations. 2) Type of M&A
From a strategic point of view, mergers and acquisitions are subject to a very specific type. It includes three types of integration possible:
• Horizontal merger
• Vertical merger
• Conglomerate merger * Horizontal Merger
Horizontal