Historically, former owners of separate firms would agree to combine for their mutual benefit and continue as owners of a combined firm. It was asserted that the assets and liabilities of the former firms were never really bought or sold; former owners merely exchanged ownership shares to be- come joint owners of the combined firm. Combinations characterized by exchange of voting shares and continuation of previous ownership became known as pooling of interests. Rather than an ex change transaction with one ownership group replacing another, a pooling of interests was charac- terized by a continuity of ownership interests before and after the business combination. Prior to its elimination, this method was applied to a significant number of business combinations 20 To reflect the continuity of ownership, two important steps characterized the pooling of interests method