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Right to feel threatened, they’ll begin by watching EVREY little thing you do to make sure it’s valued added. Possibly they already have a cog controller so don’t need two etc.

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Absolutely smart to have your resume ready. When my dad’s company merged in the 2010s, they announced very publicly and loudly that nobody’s job was at risk. About 25% of his pre-merger colleagues were let go within six months.

Not to say that’ll happen where you are, but take any promises about security with a huge grain of salt. If you ever start to feel “weird,” and that management is treating you differently, be proactive.

You should be extremely concerned. Equity firms are concerned with profit and a great way to increase profit is to reduce payroll.

It would be helpful to think about why you were acquired. Does your now former employer hold important patents or IP? Do you have key customers? Are the employees highly specialized and difficult to replace?

If it's the first or second, the risk of them winding down this company from an employment perspective much higher.

That's not to say it's all bad. When I went through a merger our health insurance improved. On the flip side, it became pretty clear within 3-6 months that the acquiring firm was calling the shots. Our offices were in different cities and it was also clear that my office was now "second tier".

It’s always smart to have your resume up to date, and definitely be skeptical of the claim that everyone’s job is safe. In your shoes I wouldn’t jump ship right away, but I’d start putting out some feelers to see what’s out there.

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What does Frank's company do? Is there any overlap between it and Spacely or Cogswell? What do you do? Do you work in an admin role of some kind that doesn't require much specialized knowledge or training? If so, I'd be pretty worried. If there's a team in one of these other subsidiaries that does basically the same thing as your team, the odds that both will be maintained are low.

otoh, if you're working a specialized role on a team that doesn't really have a counterpart, then I'd be cautiously optimistic but paying close attention to gossip and changes. In my experience, those changes start at the top and can take a while to work their way down to the common folk. The fact that Frank is being kept around is a good sign, imo, but if he seems to fade away, then I'd start to worry a bit.

>Receiving this information out of the blue has caused my heart to skip a beat and left me nervous. I feel a sudden loss of security. Are my fears founded? Should I calm down and wait to see how things progress? Is it time to polish my resume?

I've been through many acquisitions and mergers. Sometimes things change immediately. Sometimes things stayed the same while my company was "integrated". Eventually, I left all of them.

Think of it this way - would you have applied to work at Acme Co. if they hadn't merged with your employer?

Polish up the resume. Tune up the professional network.

Wait to see how things proceed, but be ready to go when necessary. It might work out, but it probably won't.

Always have a backup plan whether there is a merger or not.

Is Acme in the same industry as you or do you offer some kind of complimentary product/service, technology, geography, etc.

Equity roll-ups aren't particularly novel. Part of the rationale is cost savings from efficiencies. Whether you're going to be one of those efficiencies depends on your role/skills/etc.

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It can go either way, so brush up on the resume. And resumes should always be brushed up anyway, even the best, most stable seeming companies can have a “merger” announcement at the drop of a hat and 60 days later you’re gone. Also “merger” that’s so cute. It’s always an acquisition. Definitely let the assurances go in one ear and out the other, they may be true, they may not, but you have no way of knowing.
The key is what is the reason the buying company is acquiring your company?
Are they buying it to get the customer base, do they want some process or IP you have or are they trying to get into the blockchain based cog business Franks is so well known for?

One tip is when you meet or talk with people from the new company, ask them how long they’ve been with the company. You don’t really care how long they’ve been with the company per se, but it opens the door for them to say, oh I was with Dunlaps cog servicing company when Acme acquired us.

Get the resume out. There will be overlap. Your tenure with the company may actually work against you since you're more expensive in their eyes.

When this happened to the company I worked for 10 years ago, I was one of the first people to jump ship. Of my 4 close co-workers that stayed behind to stick it out? Their positions were eventually determined to be redundant and eliminated within 3 years of the merger. Chin up; you'll make it through this.

Yes. Even if you keep your job a lot will probably change and you will want to have options. It is extremely normal for a lot of people to leave after an acquisition and you do not want to be left holding the bag unprepared.

Having an escape plan is always a good idea, even if no acquisition.

Best of luck to Frank. Building, growing, then selling a business (the REAL product he was creating all along!!!) is a tough & risky route in life. Or… is this an infusion of much needed capital where he probably can’t swing a large bank loan/bond? In which case, the new company has expertise & capital to help Frank achieve the next level…. Is your position capable of being done by the new owners and their staff? Example: payroll processing, HR, etc.