Acquisitions can create synergies by combining an acquirer’s and a target’s pre-existing relationships with nonmarket stakeholders. We introduce the “reset effect” as a novel mechanism that occurs when a firm with cooperative stakeholder relationships combines with a firm that has conflictual relationships, prompting the affected stakeholders to re-evaluate their pre-acquisition strategies. We argue that post-acquisition conflict with nonmarket stakeholders will decline when the cooperative and conflictual stakeholders brought together by an acquisition are aligned on one or more of the three elements that characterize stakeholder fields: (1) issues stakeholders care about, (2) relationships between stakeholders, and (3) preferences for how issues should be addressed. We find support for these arguments by studying changes in Fortune 500 firms’ conflict with environmental movement organizations after acquisitions.