虽然“takeover”和“acquisition”都可以做收购讲，但他们之间仍有一些细微差别。

Acquisition 善意收购

An acquisition is when one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control of that company. Purchasing more than 50% of a target firm's stock and other assets allows the acquirer to make decisions about the newly acquired assets without the approval of the company’s other shareholders.

一般来说，“acquisition”描述的是一种主要是友好的交易，两家公司都进行合作。收购的过程是约定好的（agreed-upon）。如：

Friendly acquisitions occur when the target firm agrees to be acquired; its board of directors approves of the acquisition. Friendly acquisitions often work toward the mutual benefit of the acquiring and target companies.

善意收购发生在目标公司同意被收购；其董事会批准收购的情况下。善意的收购往往有利于收购公司和目标公司的互惠互利。

Takeover恶意收购

Takeovers are typically initiated by a larger company seeking to take over a smaller one. They can be voluntary, meaning they are the result of a mutual decision between the two companies. In other cases, they may be unwelcome, in which case the acquirer goes after the target without its knowledge or some times without its full agreement.

而“takeover”则多指恶意收购，意味着目标公司抵制或强烈反对收购。如：

Unfriendly acquisitions, commonly known as "hostile takeovers," occur when the target company does not consent to the acquisition. Hostile acquisitions don't have the same agreement from the target firm, and so the acquiring firm must actively purchase large stakes of the target company to gain a controlling interest, which forces the acquisition.

不友好的收购，通常被称为“恶意收购”，当目标公司不同意收购时就会发生。恶意收购与目标公司没有相同的协议，因此收购公司必须积极购买目标公司的大量股份才能获得控股权，这就迫使了收购。

补充一些关于善意收购和恶意收购的背景知识供参考：

善意收购是指目标企业的经营者同意此项收购,双方可以共同磋商购买条件、购买价格、支付方式和收购后企业的地位及被收购企业人员的安排等，并就上述内容签订收购要约。

　恶意收购指收购公司在未经目标公司董事会允许，不管对方是否同意的情况下，所进行的收购活动。当事双方采用各种攻防策略完成收购行为，并希望取得控制性股权，成为大股东。当中，双方强烈的对抗性是其基本特点。除非目标公司的股票流通量高可以容易在市场上吸纳，否则收购困难。恶意收购可能引致突袭收购。进行恶意收购的收购公司一般被称作“黑衣骑士”。