Corporation A terminates its 401(k) plan. Employee Z rolls over the distribution from the 401(k) plan to IRA J. Corporation A is sold to shell corporation B. Corporation B becomes Corporation C. Employee Z is the sole owner of Corporation C and rolls over the amount from IRA J to Corporation C's 401(k)plan. Is this a related rollover?

Did Z own any part of A? If not, it is definitley not a related rollover.

Even if Z owned part of A my answer probably does not change. I don't have a cite, but I am fairly certain that the IRS has taken the position that situations similar to what you have described are unrelated rollovers.

Employee Z is the child of the sole owner of Corporation A.

Thanks for your answer. Even if you don't have a specific cite, do you think the IRS position was stated in a Notice, a Revenue Ruling, a court case, etc.? I'm a little surprised by the answer and I'd like to verify it if possible.

I think it was a PLR, but I am not positive.

If Z was 21 or older there isn't any attribution for controlled group purposes, so maybe the employers aren't related anyway.

You probably already know this, but just in case, you want to make sure that there weren't any contributions made to the IRA besides the rollover from the qualified plan.