What do you think are the criteria a firm should use to evaluate targets for acquistion and how should a company plan and undertake its merger acquistion strategic initiatives? Solution To this end, you will want to define both the ideal and the essential characteristics of your target business. This definition gives those making the acquisition decision (the stockholders, professional advisors, board of directors, etc.) a common blueprint for finding and evaluating acquisition candidates. Developing a checklist of acquisition criteria can also reaffirm your goals or bring a part of your strategic plan more clearly into focus. You may also discover something about your business or goals you may not have known otherwise. For example, let .