What deadline do you refer to and what effect will it have if we get to it without the "merger" happening? The deadline is not a deadline. It is a automatic termination of the Letter of Intent. If the companies don't finalize a agreement/deal/merger/acquisition buy this date nothing happens. The LOI goes away and the companies have the legal ability to pursue other paths without penalty of law. The deal could still go through after the LOI dies or the deal could die along with the LOI.
"this would make some of us very wealthy" Please show us some verifiable numbers on how you come to this conclusion.
"All the top exec's will hold the restricted shares" Can you show me where you found this information?