Once a year, as required by state law, corporations have annual shareholder meetings. The primary purpose of these meetings is to elect the corporation’s board of directors for the next year; however, other important issues may also be addressed, and other votes taken. The date of the annual meeting is usually contained in the corporation’s bylaws.
Apart from annual shareholder meetings, which are required by state law, corporations also sometimes have “special” shareholder meetings. Unlike annual meetings, special meetings do not occur on a set schedule and are not enshrined in a corporation’s bylaws.
Mergers can be among the most complicated of all business transactions. However, in simplest terms, a merger combines two or more companies into a single business entity. For example, one corporation might pay a second corporation to acquire all of the second corporation’s assets and liabilities; in the process, the second corporation would effectively become part of the first corporation, and otherwise cease to exist.