THE ANSWER IS NOT

b. Regulations in the United States prohibit acquiring firms from using common stock to purchase another firm.

Which of the following statements is most CORRECT?

a. Defensive mergers are designed to make a company less vulnerable to a takeover.

b. Regulations in the United States prohibit acquiring firms from using common stock to purchase another firm.

c. The equity residual method values a target firm by discounting residual cash flows at the acquiring firm's overall cost of capital reflecting the combined firm's post-merger capital structure.

d. A conglomerate merger is one where a firm combines with another firm in the same industry.

e. A financial merger occurs when the operations of the firms involved are integrated in the hope of achieving synergistic benefits.