Are there words for the subject and the object in a merger& acquisition?

Question

Say company A bought company B, is there a pair of antonyms to refer A and B? E.g. merger and mergee (I know this pair is not right, only try to make a point here)

Answer 1

I'd go for the acquirer and acquiree (which latter has 23,900 written instances in Google Books).

Answer 2

As I see it, the premise is flawed. Merger is not in the same class as acquisition for this purpose.

In a merger, both the parties are merging into one unit. There can be no "merger" or "mergee" in the sense of a party to the merger. You can only have the "companies" in the merger.

In an acquisition, one party acquires another. You therefore, have an acquiring company and an acquired company (the acquirer and the acquired, if you like).

However, the exact legal terms as defined in company law may differ from country to country -- you may need to check that out.