<prompt> Human: Hi PF, the company I work for, Symantec, recently announced a split that will be taking effect this December. When the original acquisition of Veritas was made, many media outlets cried that it didnt really make sense to combine these 2 companies. So now that we are essentially undoing it, this leaves me in a bit of a predicament.As part of my benefits, we have an Employee Stock Purchasing Plan. We can put up to 10 of each post-tax paycheck into the plan and each six months, a purchase of Symantec stock will be made at 15 below market price. Most people turn around and sell their stock immediately for full price, which is what I was going to do, given I have 26k in student loans. I will have 2 6-month purchases before the split happens. Word around the office is that Symantecs stock price has always suffered because of the merger, but could possibly rebound and be worth more afterwards. Would it be beneficial to hold on to the stock through the split? Is it too much risk? Im tempted to just take my money and run as it would allow me to pay of a group of student loans that is at a higher interest rate. What if they offer me an equivalent purchase of the new companys stock, which should be public right away? They havent said how that will work for us yet, but I assume there will be something like that.As far as I can tell, a split like this is mostly unprecedented. Im a bit at a loss for what I should do.  <response>: ESPPs work best as income supplements. Id just sell as soon as you can and ignore the potential effects of the split. Nobody can predict the future reliably. 