Thank you Critter-3 for taking the time to respond. The company provided information on this transaction, including information on possible tax implications. However, the language seemed to be purposely vague, with a lot of legalise, and confusing - kind of like "your mileage will vary". The documentation said to consult with your tax advisor. I spoke with my financial planner and several folks that work with the company that is being acquired and everyone is just as confused as me with this transaction regarding possible tax implications.
It's my opinion that the lawyers who wrote the documentation are providing professional courtesy to tax attorneys to generate future business for them. My guess is if I hired a tax attorney, I still would not get a definitive answer for two reasons. One, the tax laws are so confusing and two, no one wants to be on the hook for possibly providing an inaccurate answer.
My thoughts / hope are that the executives at the company being acquired (who hold large, stock positions) made sure the deal was structured in a way to minimize their tax liability and this would benefit the smaller shareholders, like me.
