My company was acquired in a stock-for-stock purchase. How do I update my ESPP shares?

PaulrT

I have tried using the Corp Acquistion (Stock for stock) but it says I have no shares. If I use symbol ESPP, it says that transaction is not available for ESPP

NotACPA

Your company, or the company that acquired it, first needs to tell you what will happen to them in real life.

Without knowing that, and you telling us, we can't possibly answer your question.

mshiggins

@PaulrT I am sorry to say you will likely have a struggle getting your ESPPs updated to the new company’s security. There are two main tasks:

1. Close out the existing open lots of the old company ESPPs
2. Create the new company ESPPs

Corporate acquisition action is not going to work. To close out the open lots, the only action that will work is to use the transfer all securities to another account. To create the new company ESPPs, you pretty much just have to enter new ESPP Buy transactions. You can try Add Shares, but I recall there is some issue setting the date acquired.

I swore the last time I had to do this, I would sell all the old company ESPP shares before the acquisition completed just to avoid the post merger ESPP conversion gyrations.