Meaning & use
acquirer
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebusiness
A person or company that buys or takes control of another business.
Grammar: Countable: the acquirer, an acquirer, the two acquirers.
Patterns
- the acquirer of something
The acquirer offered a fair price for the struggling startup.
Shareholders voted to accept the acquirer's bid.
The acquirer plans to keep the brand name.
nouncountablefinancetechnical
In card payments, the bank that processes card transactions for a merchant and receives the money on its behalf.
Grammar: Countable and technical, often contrasted with the issuer.
The merchant's acquirer sends the payment request to the card network.
Fees vary between acquirers.
Word forms
| plural | acquirers |
|---|
Common combinations
- potential acquirer
- A potential acquirer has approached the firm.
- serial acquirer
- The company is a serial acquirer of small rivals.
- acquirer and target
- The acquirer and target agreed on the terms.
- merchant acquirer
- The merchant acquirer charged a small fee per sale.
Synonyms and how they differ
- buyer
- Buyer is the plain word for anyone who purchases, while acquirer sounds like corporate deal language.
- purchaser
- Purchaser is formal but still ordinary, and does not imply taking over control.
- bidder
- A bidder is trying to buy and may not succeed, whereas an acquirer has bought or is about to buy.
- takeover firm
- A takeover firm stresses taking control of a company, while acquirer can mean any kind of buyer.
Opposites
Word family
- acquire verb
- to get something by buying or effort
- acquisition noun
- the act of acquiring, or something acquired
- acquisitive adjective
- eager to get more things
Commonly confused: acquirer or acquirer vs issuer?
acquirer vs acquirer vs issuer
In card payments, the issuer gives cards to customers, while the acquirer handles payments for merchants.
Practice
The smaller company agreed to be bought, and its new ______ promised to protect all jobs.
Choose one answer.
The acquirer is the company that buys another. A competitor, supplier or auditor does not buy the business.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “acquirer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.