EQT announced on Monday that it's buying Range Resources in an all-stock deal. Each Range share will be exchanged for 0.987 shares of EQT, which worked out to about $54.91 a share, a roughly 20% premium, when the deal was announced. EQT's executive team will run the combined company from its headquarters in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
For Range employees, that one paragraph raises a lot of questions. Your shares will become EQT shares. Your RSUs and PSUs will convert. And depending on your role and where you sit, your job may change too. The general mechanics are laid out in the merger agreement. What they mean for you depends on how much stock you hold, your tax picture, and what you'd do if your role changed.
That's what I help people work through, and the months before closing are when you have the most room to plan. If you’d like to get clarity on your personal situation, click here to book a free strategy session.
And here's how it breaks down depending on where you sit:
If you own Range stock
You're about to become an EQT shareholder. At closing, each Range share turns into 0.987 EQT shares, with a small cash payment for any fractional shares.
Because the ratio is fixed, the $54.91 figure in the headlines isn't locked in. From now until closing, the value of your Range shares moves with EQT's stock price, and EQT's stock price moves a lot with natural gas prices. If gas falls between now and the first quarter of 2027, so does what you're getting.
On taxes, all-stock mergers like this are commonly structured so the exchange itself isn't taxable, with your cost basis and holding period carrying over to the new EQT shares. The joint proxy statement will confirm how this one is treated.
The bigger decision is whether you want to hold all of it. The combined company will be the largest natural gas producer in the country, but it's still one company tied to one commodity. If Range stock is a meaningful part of your net worth, you have two windows to diversify: selling some Range shares before closing, which locks in your price and lets you choose whether the gain lands in 2026, or selling EQT shares after closing, which pushes the gain to 2027 or later. Which is better depends on your tax lots, your income in each year, and how much risk you're comfortable carrying in the meantime.
If you have Range RSUs or PSUs
The merger agreement is unusually specific here, which is helpful. Based on EQT's filing:
Time-based RSUs: EQT assumes them and converts them into EQT RSUs using the same 0.987 ratio. They keep your existing vesting schedule.
PSUs: These are deemed earned at whichever is higher, actual performance at closing or target. They then convert into time-based EQT RSUs, but you still have to stay employed through the end of the original performance period to receive them.
Awards that vest automatically at closing: Some grants are written to vest the moment the deal closes. Those convert into EQT shares, but only after you sign a release of claims.
That PSU detail matters more than it looks. The performance hurdle goes away, but the employment requirement doesn't. If your role is eliminated after closing, what happens to those converted awards depends on the terms of your original grant and any severance or change-in-control protections you have. Pull your grant agreements now and look for language about termination after a change in control.
And remember that whenever these awards vest, they're taxed as ordinary income, usually with withholding that's too low for higher earners.
If you work at Range's Fort Worth headquarters
This is the group with the most uncertainty. The combined company will be run by EQT's leadership from Pennsylvania, and EQT has pointed to $325 million in annual cost savings from the deal. Savings like that usually include overlap in corporate functions. Range hasn't said what the merger means for its Fort Worth presence, and nobody outside the company knows which roles will be affected.
What you can control is how prepared you are:
Know your protections: Find your company's severance policy and check your grant agreements for what happens to unvested awards if you're let go after closing.
Build cash now: A few extra months of savings while you're still getting paid gives you room to choose your next move instead of taking the first offer.
Think through relocation before you're asked: If you're offered a move to Pennsylvania, it isn't just a career decision. Texas has no state income tax, while Pennsylvania has a flat state income tax and many local areas add a wage tax on top. Relocation packages are also generally taxable. The timing of a move relative to when your awards vest or you sell shares can change how much of that income each state taxes.
If you're a Range executive
Range CEO Dennis Degner will join EQT's board, but EQT's executive team will lead the combined company. For many senior Range leaders, that likely means a transition, and the paperwork you signed years ago now matters a great deal.
Start with your change-in-control agreement or severance plan. Most executive agreements are double-trigger, meaning the enhanced benefits kick in only if the deal closes and you're let go without cause or leave for good reason within a set window. Know exactly what counts as good reason, because a smaller role at a bigger company sometimes qualifies.
Then look at the tax side, which is where the real money is:
Income stacking: Severance, accelerated vesting and a final bonus can all land in the same year. When they're paid, and in which year, can make a big difference.
Deferred compensation: If you participate in a nonqualified deferred comp plan, separation can trigger payouts on a schedule you set years ago. Senior officers at public companies often face a required six-month delay on those payments.
The golden parachute tax: If your deal-related payments reach three times your average pay over the past five years, everything above one times that average can face a 20% excise tax on top of income tax. Check whether your agreement cuts payments back, pays the better after-tax result, or leaves you exposed.
Most of these levers can only be pulled before closing.
How long this could take
The companies expect to close in the first quarter of 2027, but that depends on shareholder votes at both companies and antitrust clearance. The merger agreement allows the deal to run until October 25, 2027, and that deadline extends automatically to April 25, 2028 if antitrust review is the only thing still holding it up.
Both sides have reasons to see it through. If the deal is called off under certain circumstances, Range would owe EQT a $423 million termination fee, and EQT would owe Range about $1.15 billion. Still, plan for a range of timelines rather than a single date. A deal that slips from early 2027 into 2028 changes which tax year your income lands in, how long your stock tracks EQT's price, and how long you're living with uncertainty about your role.
Where to start
You don't need to wait for the joint proxy statement to get organized. List your Range shares by purchase date and cost basis, pull your grant agreements and any change-in-control or severance documents, and sketch out what your income looks like in 2026 and 2027. With that in front of you, every decision above gets clearer.
If you'd like help working through them, click here to book a free strategy session.
About the Author
Michael Walstedt, CFA, CFP®, is the founder of Reliant Wealth Advisory, a fee-only fiduciary firm based in Hoboken, New Jersey. He helps executives, tech professionals, and business owners make smart decisions about equity compensation, taxes, and investing.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Deal details are based on public filings and news reports as of October 27, 2026, and may change. Consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.
