ESOP Liquidation

[Guest sauterne]

Our company has an ESOP and has been bought out. Are there any rules on what share price I must accept? Must I sell? The majority shares are controlled by a single person who is the CEO. The buying company is a foreign company that is NASDQ listed.

[BeckyMiller]

In most ESOPs, the participant has little direct input into such decisions. Generally, the decision regarding what price to accept for the shares is made by the trustee. If your company has been bought out, there may not even be any shares left in your ESOP at this time. The trustees may have negotiated a selling price for the block of stock. In that case, you will have a right to a distribution based upon what is in your account balance following the sale.

In some situations, the ESOP continues to hold stock after the acquisition. In those cases, the share price is set either by the market or some other independent determination, as required by the law.

Is there something specific going on that has made you believe that you have some input in the pricing?

[mbozek]

If the company is not publicaly traded there is no market for the stock so you will have to accept whatever price is offered by the ESOP/ seller. Don't know why u would want to hold stock as a minority shareholder in a foreign corp unless u will be able to exchange your stock for NASDQ listed stock.