As another poster mentioned, in this case the asset values of the acquirer are bigger. But smaller companies buy bigger companies even without that. In genera

As another poster mentioned, in this case the asset values of the acquirer are bigger. But smaller companies buy bigger companies even without that. In general they just need somebody to fund the acquisition either through debt (they borrow the money) or equity (they issue more stock). Generally it has to be done with debt. The reason it can work in telecom is that business tends to be very recurring revenue so people are willing to lend them money. (Their recurring revenue looks like a bond) An investor can see that two companies have similar businesses and economies of scale, and they want the more efficiently run one to be the acquirer, even if it's the smaller one.