Website glossary

Want to know what a specific business term means? We've put together a website glossary to help!

Glossary
Business Sales

Acceptance

Acceptance in business is the agreement or approval of terms, conditions, services, products, or other agreements between involved parties. It can occur during contractual negotiations, product and service agreements, and proposal acceptances.

Accessibility

For businesses, accessibility refers to the extent to which a company’s products and services, facilities, or information are designed to make them easy and equitable to use by individuals who may have diverse needs or abilities.

Accessibility is key for businesses when looking to create an inclusive environment that allows all customers, consumers or users to access their products, services or facilities in an easy and equitable way, regardless of any physical, sensory, cognitive, or other disabilities.

Asset Sale

A transaction in which a business sells some or all of its assets to another. Rather than selling the entire company, only some or all of the business assets are sold. It could be done to raise capital, dispose of non-essential assets, or as part of a merger, acquisition or restructuring of the company.

Assets include tangible assets, like real estate, equipment, and inventory; intangible assets, like patents, trademarks, customer lists, and brand names; and financial assets, like investments, cash, or other financial holdings.

Business Profile

A business profile refers to a concise overview of a company or business. It provides essential information about the business to help others get a quick understanding of the company.

Cash Flow Statement

A financial statement that shows how cash and cash equivalents are moving in and out of a company over a specific period. The statement is often divided into three sections: operating activities, showing the business’s primary operations; investing activities, which includes cash used in the purchase and sale of investments, long-term assets and more; and financing activities, which cover things like obtaining capital, repaying debt, borrowing money and more.

Divestiture

Refers to a strategic action taken by a company to sell, dispose of, or divest of assets, subsidiaries, divisions, or business units. It means purposefully relinquishing control, ownership, or interest in part or parts of an organisation for a variety of reasons, including improving financial health, refocusing the company, reducing debt, or raising capital, among others.

Divestiture may take place through the selling of, exchange of, or closure of subsidiaries, assets, or divisions, as well as through declaration of bankruptcy.

Information Memorandum

An information memorandum, which is sometimes seen as simply IM, is a document used by businesses or financial institutions that provides details about a business opportunity. Most often used when a business is being sold, it is distributed to potential investors, buyers, and other stakeholders to give them all the information they need to decide whether they will take the opportunity or not.

Merger

A merger is a strategic decision where two or more businesses consolidate to form a single entity or to become a larger entity. The business strategy is often used to benefit all parties involved mutually.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refers to the aspects of corporate strategy and management that deal with the combining or consolidation of companies (mergers) and the purchasing or acquisition of companies (acquisitions).

This aspect of corporate strategy is often used to strengthen a company's position in the market or enhance its capabilities.

Share Sale

Refers to the process of a buyer acquiring ownership of a business through the purchase of the majority or all of the company’s ownership shares. Shareholders or the company itself sell ownership shares to a buyer, thereby allowing the buyer to become a shareholder.

Ownership rights and responsibilities are transferred to the buyer when they acquire ownership stakes. This kind of sale may take place on the stock market (so long as the company is publicly traded), or it can be sold privately.