How do I merge AT& T with SBC shares in Quicken 2006?

I went to the "how do I?" but no luck is there a way to combine the history and transactions of these 2 stocks in quicken 2006 Premier Home and Business?

thanks

John

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Reply to
jjfisher282
Loading thread data ...

Hi, John.

Rather than go through this whole transaction again, please look in the archives for a long thread from December 2005, Subject: How to enter SBC acquiring AT&T? The original post was by John Blaustein on 12/1/05.

My post on 12/6/05 said this:

I've read through this long thread to date. I don't currently hold either AT&T or SBC shares, thank goodness, although I've owned both of them in years past. And I used to have many clients with AT&T shares, both before and after the big breakup. I have just a couple of thoughts on the matter.

First, don't forget the Golden Rule of recording things in Quicken, also known as the 2-step process:

  1. Find out what happened in the real world.

  1. Record that in Quicken.

Don't try to do them in reverse order. Trying to record a transaction before you understand what happened is a recipe for disaster - or for having to undo it and do it again.

Your message waaay down near the end of this thread is the key, John. Your post dated 12/2/05 at 10:02AM CST, wherein you quoted the official announcement from SBC. That spells out what most of the other posts here were only speculating about.

It clarifies that, at the time of the name/symbol change, NOBODY owned shares of the OLD AT&T. By that time, SBC had already acquired the old company's shares and issued SBC shares to replace them. So, even Jerry Boyle had NO old shares when the name changed. And note the slight-but-significant difference in the names - from "Corp." to "Inc." The old company was AT&T Corp. The former SBC is now AT&T Inc.

There actually were three transactions, all dated 11/18/05. They were structured to happen in this order:

  1. .30 per share dividend paid to (old) AT&T Corp. shareholders.

  1. SBC acquired (old) AT&T Corp. by exchanging SBC shares for (old) AT&T Corp. shares. Immediately after this transaction, there were no longer any (old) AT&T Corp. shareholders, only SBC shareholders.

  2. SBC changed its name to (new) AT&T Inc. and its ticker symbol to T.

So the transaction sequence (as opposed to the name change sequence) is straightforward for OLD AT&T shareholders, whether or not they also owned SBC shares before. First record the $1.30 dividend paid just before the acquisition, which you will receive soon. (If you record the acquisition first, you'll show no shares remaining on which the dividend can be paid.) Second, record a Corporate Acquisition: "As a result of the acquisition, each share of old AT&T common stock was converted into .77942 of a share of new AT&T common stock." Third, of course, record the sale of fractional SBC shares immediately after the acquisition. All these transactions took place on November 18, 2005. But be sure to record them in the proper sequence so that Quicken can calculate numbers of shares and cost bases, step by step.

So, Jerry, after the acquisition, you no longer owned shares of both companies. You held shares of SBC ONLY, just like John.

Now, all you both have to do is record the name/symbol change. The official announcement doesn't make it crystal clear, but it says the name changed "After the closing of the acquisition", which "was completed on Nov. 18,

2005."

So now figure out how to get this into Quicken. I'd say record, all on

11/18/05: (1) the special dividend, (2) the corporate acquisition (AT&T Corp. by SBC), (3) sale of any fractional share of SBC, (4) the name to AT&T Inc., (5) the AT&T Inc., symbol change to T.

At least, that's the way it looks from here. And I'm not about to get into the DRIPs and the long history of AT&T capital changes!

If I've overlooked something or misinterpreted something. please straighten me out. Remember that I've been retired over a decade and I'm out of practice in more ways than one! :^}

RC

And then, in answer to a question, I added this in a second post:

Yes, I think that changing the name and symbol is all that SBC shareholders needed to do. And that includes former AT&T Corp. shareholders who became SBC-only shareholders immediately after the acquisition. (After they accounted for the special dividend and the acquisition, of course. IMMEDIATELY before the name change - and for a second or two after the acquisition - there were NO AT&T shareholders - until after the name change.)

I hope this helps, John.

RC

Reply to
R. C. White

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.