1.  A takeover or acquisition where the acquiring company makes a securities exchange offer to the shareholders of a larger target company.

2.  The result is that the shareholders in the target company become the majority shareholders in the acquiring company.

3.  It is common to seek a whitewash in a reverse takeover where the shareholders of the target company will end up holding a controlling interest in the acquiring company.

4.  An acquisition that diluted the profits of the acquiring company might have been easier for a technology concern in the past.

5.  Bank of Boston remains willing to consider exchanging the unit for a stake in the acquiring company, according to a report in the American Banker newspaper.

6.  Both deals give the acquiring company access to a critical technology more rapidly than it could be developed internally.

7.  Both deals filled specific gaps for the acquiring company.

8.  A Chartwell spokesperson declined to comment on whether the company believed it could be the next target of an acquiring insurance company.

9.  Acquiring companies usually offer a target company a premium over its share price.