Why'd a company issue unpaid shares, to acquire or merge companies?
Why would a company issue unpaid shares?


Possible reasons are:


buyer's temporary lack of sufficient funds to perform the
acquisition, whence the issuer of shares is willing to grant credit for
the sake of "closing the sale";
fiscal planning (be it the buyer's and/or the issuer's planning) might be such
that delaying payment of shares will place him at a more convenient tax bracket
in the acquisition and/or disbursement fiscal year(s) (this is more evident in cash based accounting systems), and/or the delay of payment will allow
him to qualify for certain tax deductions;
issuer predicts the price of shares will fall (and possibly discourage prospects of merger/acquisition), so he hedges against
that risk by entering a forward contract with the buyer, with the incentive --to the buyer-- that transfer of shares will be effective immediately;
buyer is willing to commit to a higher price on unpaid shares so as
to anticipate upcoming legislation that will make it harder to
perform akin mergers/acquisitions.