RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:And the share price BEAT DOWN goes on.... I have been around since grass was invented and I have never heard of such a pre-merger arrangement. Makes no sense to me. The objective you cite can be accommodated with sixteen different accounting ways that are routine in a merger and certainly less questionable. JMHO
Deduct, defer, and divide. The mantra of a tax planning specialist. The only thing that I haven't ruled out so far is that John is using the market to "gift" shares to someone in a tax efficient manner. In other words, he knows who is picking up his cheap shares in the market when he is selling and its part of the plan.
He couldn't possibly be ignorant to the obvious fact that if you sell millions of shares in a thin market the SP you will get will be depressed really LOW. But a low share price means that he will not be reporting massive gains subject to taxation on this change of ownership. So lets say he is looking to "distribute" a quarter of his shareholding amoungst family [for tax or estate planning purposes (say to his wife and kids --though admitedly I don't even know if he has those), he gets to do so without attracting major taxes because of the depressed SP used to calculate his gains. I don't think he could do so to his numbered company. If the shares are being picked-up by say a numbered company that he is an owner of then I believe that rules require that the numberred company would have to report that company's DN purchase just like any insider.
Sorry if this sounds like grasping at straws to explain his inexplicable dumping of shares at pennies on the dollar when his own founded company is on the verge of turning the corner on proiftability.
Anyone else with theories?