How to show an acquired or renamed company on your resume

1Does your time at the old company count?

Say Blueberries hired you in March 2024, and in April 2026 Strawberries bought Blueberries outright. Same desk, same work, a new name on your pay stub. Six months later, you've done the job for two and a half years, the last six months of it at Strawberries. Can your resume say Strawberries the whole way?

Two things are true at once:

• Your experience counts in full. You've done the job for two and a half years, and you can say so anywhere: on your resume, in a cover letter, in an interview.
• The name changed partway. Strawberries didn't hire you in 2024, so "Strawberries, March 2024 to present" says something that didn't happen. A reference or background check may well turn up the name Blueberries, and a reader who spots the difference starts to wonder what else is stretched. Job Bank, the Government of Canada's job site, warns that overstating your skills or results misleads the employer (How to write a good resume, checked 14 October 2026).

The fix is small: name both. "Strawberries (formerly Blueberries), March 2024 to present" is true, and it shows one job with no break, so nobody reads it as a job you left after six months.

Canadian law treats it as one stretch too. In Ontario, when a business is sold and you keep working in it for the new owner, the Employment Standards Act counts your time with the seller as time with the buyer, for things like vacation, notice and severance (Continuity of employment, checked 14 October 2026). In federally regulated workplaces, such as banks, airlines and telecom companies (the federal list), the Canada Labour Code says your job before and after a sale or merger counts as continuous with one employer (section 189, checked 14 October 2026). Those rules are about your rights at work. They also back the way to put it on a resume: one job under two names.

2Three ways to lay it out

One entry with both names suits most people who stayed through a sale or a rename. The other two fit a new title at the takeover, or a job you'd left before the change.

Taylor, Rowan and Jamie are made-up people, and the companies are made-up fruit. Every detail and number in these three examples is invented to show the layout.

3Which layout to pick

Pick by whether your job changed with the company, and whether you were still there when it did.

Not sure? Use one entry with both names. It reads as one job, and it's true.

Whichever you pick, write the dates the same way as everywhere else on your resume, with the month in words: March 2024 to present. Our Canadian resume format guide has the details. With stacked titles, end the earlier one the month before the new one starts, so the dates meet without a gap or an overlap, as in the promotion guide.

4Turn the change into a bullet

A sale or a merger means months of extra work: moving clients over, learning new systems, training the new owner's people on how things were done. Whoever stayed and kept things running has something to show for it. A line that only says the company was acquired wastes the space.

Say when the company changed hands inside a bullet about what you did through it, as Taylor's second bullet does. Job Bank says to highlight what you achieved, with specific examples and firm numbers (How to write a good resume, checked 14 October 2026).

Before and after

Made-up lines, with invented numbers, to show the change.

Those months tend to blur together, and the numbers are the first thing to go. Getting them back takes the questions a good career coach asks: what moved over, what broke, and who did people come to? YapApply asks them while you talk through the job, then writes the bullets for each job you apply to. Writing it yourself? The STAR method guide shows how to turn that story into one line.

5On LinkedIn

LinkedIn won't update your profile for you. A company that changes its LinkedIn Page's name doesn't change the work experience on its employees' profiles (LinkedIn Help), and a Page marked as acquired leaves its employees' profiles as they were (LinkedIn Help). Both checked 14 October 2026.

Each position on LinkedIn links to one company's Page, so a single position can't carry both names the way a resume entry can. What to do depends on the name you work under day to day: the one on your email, your badge, and your answer when someone asks where you work.

Still working under the old name? Keep your entry

Some buyers keep the company they bought running under its own name. Then you still work at Blueberries, so keep your position as it is, still current. One line in its description tells anyone who knows the news: "Blueberries became part of Strawberries in April 2026." There's no new job to announce.

Old name gone? End it and start a new one

Once the old name is gone from your email and your badge, a current Blueberries entry says you work somewhere that no longer goes by that name, and anyone looking for people at Strawberries won't find you. Moving the whole entry to the Strawberries Page has the same problem as on a resume: it shows Strawberries for years before it was your employer. Two positions that meet in the middle, each saying what happened, keep both names true. Here's how:

1. Turn off Share profile updates firstOtherwise LinkedIn may tell your network you started a new job. Go to Me, then Settings & Privacy, then Visibility, then Share profile updates, or, on a computer, switch off Share with network while you edit (LinkedIn Help, checked 14 October 2026).
2. End the old positionOpen your Blueberries position and give it an end date: the month before the takeover, March 2026. Add a first line to its description: "Blueberries was bought by Strawberries in April 2026, and my role moved over."
3. Add the new positionSame title, the Strawberries Page as the company, starting the month of the takeover, April 2026, marked as current. Start its description with "Joined Strawberries when it bought Blueberries in April 2026."
4. Check your headline and AboutIf either names Blueberries, change it to Strawberries.
5. Share it yourself, if you likeA post in your own words says it better than an automatic new-job notice: "Blueberries is now part of Strawberries. Same job, same clients, new name on the door."

The two positions won't group under one company. LinkedIn groups positions only at the same company, when a new one starts within a month of the old one's end (LinkedIn Help, checked 14 October 2026). Back-to-back months and one line in each description do the same job: anyone reading sees one stretch of work under two names.

Only renamed? Then it's the same company, so keep one position with your full dates. If it still shows the old name, edit it and pick the company again from the list, so it links to the renamed Page, and start the description with "Formerly Lime Credit Union."

6Renames, mergers and other cases

Charlie is a made-up person, and the credit union and every number in the example are invented.

A rename or a rebrand

When the company only changed its name, you never changed employers. Use the new name, the old one in brackets, and your full dates. No bullet needed, since nothing changed hands.

A merger under a new name

When Blueberries and Raspberries merge into Berry Co., you only worked for one of the two before the merger. Name that one: "Berry Co. (formerly Blueberries)". Leave Raspberries out.

Bought more than once

Name the company now and the one that hired you: "Cherries (formerly Blueberries)". An owner in the middle can go in a bullet if you worked under its name for a year or more. Anything shorter can go.

Your job ended after the sale

It happens, and it usually says more about the deal than about you. End the entry on your last month, under the name you worked for most. Job Bank says to leave reasons for leaving off your resume (How to write a good resume, checked 14 October 2026). If you're asked, one plain line is enough: "My role ended when Strawberries merged the two marketing teams."

Your pay stubs still say the old name

In some sales, the buyer owns the company, but the company you work for keeps its legal name. Use the name the company goes by in public now, with the other in brackets. "Strawberries (formerly Blueberries)" covers both, so a background check that asks for either name finds a match.

8Questions people ask