Learn French: L'entreprise s'étend de plus en plus en vue d'un rachat. - The company expands more and more with a view to a buyout.

While pour is grammatically correct and means 'for', en vue de is a more formal expression that specifically means 'with a view to' or 'with the goal of'. It highlights long-term strategic planning, making it perfect for business contexts like a company expanding. Here, it is followed by the noun un rachat.

Could I use dans le but de in this sentence instead?

It wouldn't work naturally with the noun un rachat. Dans le but de (with the goal of) is almost always followed by an infinitive verb. To use it here, you would have to change the sentence to use a verb, such as dans le but d'être rachetée (with the goal of being bought out). En vue de is much more flexible because it works perfectly with nouns.

Why is the verb s'étendre reflexive in this sentence?

In French, s'étendre is used reflexively to mean 'to expand' or 'to spread'. Without the reflexive pronoun se, the verb étendre needs a direct object, meaning to stretch or spread something else (like spreading out a blanket). Since the company is expanding its own operations, we use the reflexive form.

Where does the word rachat come from?