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I own a small bit of stock in a startup which is about to be acquired. I'm wondering, what is the most common process for the acquisition, when it comes to the handling of small shareholders? Am I likely to receive a cash offer for my stock? Stock in the new company in exchange for mine? Is there even a standard/common practice here?

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As far as I know, you'll get a piece of both respective to the size of your stake. – dnbrv Apr 19 '12 at 23:06

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In virtually all cases, shareholders receive the same exact consideration per share, differing only when it's multiplied by the number of shares each holds. So you needn't worry about getting the short end of the stick and getting only cash or only stock while other holders get better deals.

The idea of paying shareholders differently sort of exists in the public M&A market, but most of those deals end up being negotiated back to the same compensation for each holder anyhow.

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THe one exception being a small sahreholder MAY get a little more cash because you can not receive half a share (or any other part). So, if your share allocation would be 500.5 shares, the last half would likely be paid in additional cash. Or less cash and an 501 shares. – NetTecture Apr 26 '12 at 15:02

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