I have given due consideration to your your response. I have not delved too deeply into why some shares are restricted, or for what period of time, nor do I have the time to do so. Nevertheless, you raise a somewhat valid point in that the company has no preferred class of stock and there are insufficient restricted shares (even if they are all closely held by the corporate entity) to support a claim of undeniable control by the merging entity once transferred. Selling those shares into the open market would likely have a negative impact on the control question. Without reviewing the Articles of Incorporation, it is impossible to determine if a preferred class could be created without a vote being put to the common shareholders. In my meek opinion, it is of paramount importance to the merging entity that they ultimately hold a control block of preferred shares that insure they have the votes to act at their discretion for the collective good of the organization and its common shareholders. Without a definitive control block, every material or substantively definitive move by the corporate officers would need to be put to a vote of the shareholders, i.e. unless the Articles of Incorporation grant the officers and/or Board of Directors specific authority. I suspect the issue of control, and how to structure same, is what may be deleterious to completing the merging documents at the worst, and most certainly is causing a dilatory process at best.