what is the difference between a "business combination" and a "subsidiary"?

Question

I am a CA student in canada, and the CICA Handbook has a section on business combinations, and another for subsidiaries.

Could someone please explain the difference for me?

Answer 1

A business comb. is the process of bringing together different entitities. The process may or may not result in a parent-subsidiary relationship. Here's an extract from the IFRS 3 Business Combinations.

4 A business combination is the bringing together of separate entities or businesses into one reporting entity. The result of nearly all business combinations is that one entity, the acquirer, obtains control of one or more other businesses, the acquiree. If an entity obtains control of one or more other entities that are not businesses, the bringing together of those entities is not a business combination. When an entity acquires a group of assets or net assets that does not constitute a business, it shall allocate the cost of the group between the individual identifiable assets and liabilities in the group based on their relative fair values at the date of acquisition.
5 A business combination may be structured in a variety of ways for legal, taxation or other reasons. It may involve the purchase by an entity of the equity of another entity, the purchase of all the net assets of another entity, the assumption of the liabilities of another entity, or the purchase of some of the net assets of another entity that together form one or more businesses. It may be effected by the issue of equity instruments, the transfer of cash, cash equivalents or other assets, or a combination thereof. The transaction may be between the shareholders of the combining entities or between one entity and the shareholders of another entity. It may involve the establishment of a new entity to control the combining entities or net assets transferred, or the restructuring of one or more of the combining entities.
6 A business combination may result in a parent-subsidiary relationship in which the acquirer is the parent and the acquiree a subsidiary of the acquirer. In such circumstances, the acquirer applies this IFRS in its consolidated financial statements. It includes its interest in the acquiree in any separate financial statements it issues as an investment in a subsidiary (see IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements).
7 A business combination may involve the purchase of the net assets, including any goodwill, of another entity rather than the purchase of the equity of the other entity. Such a combination does not result in a parent-subsidiary relationship.
8 Included within the definition of a business combination, and therefore the scope of this IFRS, are business combinations in which one entity obtains control of another entity but for which the date of obtaining control (i.e. the acquisition date) does not coincide with the date or dates of acquiring an ownership interest (i.e. the date or dates of exchange). This situation may arise, for example, when an investee enters into share buy-back arrangements with some of its investors and, as a result, control of the investee changes.

The US GAAP equivalent of the IFRS 3 is the SFAS 141.