ABSTRACT
When one company acquires most of the shares in another, it normally accounts for the purchase as an ‘acquisition’, including the results of the acquired business as from the date of purchase. Any difference between the purchase price and the fair value of the separable net assets acquired represents ‘goodwill’, which the acquiring group treats as an intangible fixed asset and either amortizes against profit or subjects to a regular impairment review. That is what we have been describing so far in this section.
