Consolidation

(1) The reduction of the number of shares it has in issue by a company.
(2) Investment strategy in which a leveraged buyout (LBO) company acquires a series of companies in the same or complementary fields, with the goal of becoming a dominant regional or nationwide player in that industry. In some cases, a holding company will be created to acquire the new companies. In other cases, an initial acquisition may serve as the platform through which the other acquisitions will be made.