A buy-out strategy in which key assets of the target firm are purchased, rather than its shares. This is particularly popular in the case of bankrupt firms, who might otherwise have valuable assets which could be of use to other firms, but whose financing situation makes the firm unattractive for purchasers (an asset acquisition strategy may be pursued in almost any case where the potential target firm has an unattractive financing structure). Further, the asset acquisition strategy might be pursued if the acquirer is interested in certain specific assets, and not all the possible target assets.