I've been investing since I was 10 years old and I'm in my 30's now. That was the first time I have ever seen a merger candidate announce a reverse split before even having their own stock to reverse split with, lmao.
That was either a dumb mistake, a purposeful destruction of shareholder value for pleasure, or a purposeful destruction of shareholder value in order for insiders to acquire large blocks on the lows. Ideally if the latter they will run it the way tsnp/hmbl was done with a big surprise share cancellation announcement. That would also be the most profitable method for them personally and my sneaking suspicion is that they aim to optimize their profits.