Historical Financial Research - Stocks and Markets: Old Stock Certificates: Capital Changes

Capital Changes provides over 100 years of U.S. corporate actions data on events such as mergers & acquisitions, spin-offs, exchange offers and re-organizations for their tax consequences. The database includes U.S. offerings from foreign corporations. In addition, Capital Changes also offers a separate list of worthless securities, providing details on public companies that filed for bankruptcy and dissolved, or otherwise ceased operations. 

For public companies that were merged or acquired by another company, Capital Changes provides details of the event, such as the exchange of shares from the target company for shares of the acquiring company, or the cash amount, if the acquirer purchased the target for cash. For those public companies that were merged in an exchange of shares, Capital Changes allows you to follow the history of the stock through the merger and the stock history of the successor company, or companies. Capital Changes also provides information on the tax consequences for shareholders of the merger or acquisition target. If the company or its successor has been dissolved or filed for bankruptcy and never recovered, Capital Changes will provide that information. 

Once you have accessed the Capital Changes U.S. or Worthless Securities databases, you can look for your company by name, using the alphabetical series of drop-down menus in the left column on the page. Make sure that the company name, if you find it, matches the name of the company, and the state of incorporation, listed on your certificate.