That would also be news to the SGC employees

In situations such as this, the employees are often/usually the last to know. Of course, I was just postulating when I prophesied that SGC would be acquired by Beckett. But, think about it. I sense that Beckett is an organization that is keen to grow - SGC, not so much. Beckett is a leader when it comes to grading modern cards, but is a distant third place when it comes to grading vintage. The easiest way for Beckett to remedy this and to grow this segment of its business is to acquire SGC (and retain SGC's grading staff). This makes all the sense in the world, to me.
Val