三个单词均指公司之间的相互整合或合并。准确地讲，acquisition应译为“购并”，merger应当译为“兼并”，而consolidation则应译为 “合并”。以acquisition方式进行的购并，多指 一个公司以收购某公司股份的方式进行接管或达到控股的目的(the obtaining of controlling interest in a company [1])，结果是两个法人的实体地位在交易之后仍可同时存在，鉴于收购所需资金关系，故此种方式多用作收购小公司。相比之下，merger所指的是一个公司对另一个公司的兼并，其多以被兼并公司的消亡形式进行，但有时也可保留被兼并的公司的名称，或兼并公司成为被兼并公司的控股公司，但此时被兼并公司已失去其法人身份，不再是独立的商务实体（an amalgamation of two corporations pursuant to statutory provision in which one of the corporations survives and the other disappears. The absorption of one company by another, the former losing its legal identity, and the latter retains its own name and identity and acquiring assets, liabilities, franchises, and powers of the former, and absorbed company ceasing to exist as separate business entity[2])。目前流行的公司之间的“并购”，则指merger and acquisition，略为MA，指用收购方式进行的兼并。consolidation常用于大公司的合并，在合并时多有新资本注入， 其与merger和acquisition的主要区别在于consolidation是把两个或两个以上的公司合并成为一家新公司，而原有的诸公司都得宣布解散(Merger differs from a consolidation wherein all the corporations terminate their existence and become parties to a new one[3]) 。

[1]Cf. Linda Picard Wood, J.D. , Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Law, at p. 10, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated (1996).
[2]Cf. The Publisher's Editorial Staff, Black's Law Dictionary (with Pronunciations), abridged 6th edition，at p. 682，West Publishing Co. (1991).
[3]Id. at p. 682.