The stock acquisition is legal.

Nexcen Brands announced on February 15, 2007 that they had completed a $54.6 million cash and stock acquisition of the company.

BT paid $1.7 billion in a stock acquisition of Alex. Brown.

"That's a stock acquisition," Mr. Connolly says.

These stock acquisitions were sometimes brazen, with massive purchases occurring only a few days before a corporation announced a takeover.

Under the agreement announced last July for the $8.3 billion stock acquisition, either company can walk away from the deal if it is not completed by March 31.

(Employees at AIL already had a minority ownership position, the result of prior stock acquisitions.)

The all stock acquisition was valued at approximately $19 million (not including earn-outs).

Parent-subsidiary relationship: the result of a stock acquisition where the parent is the acquiring company and the subsidiary is the acquired company.

Duke acquired the operations in its $9 billion stock acquisition of the Cinergy Corporation.