onceburnt: This does not constitute legal advice, I am not representing you, and you are advised to consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction

onceburnt: This does not constitute legal advice, I am not representing you, and you are advised to consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction regarding this matter. However, as a matter of general experience, I can tell you that, generally speaking, a company cannot rid itself of its obligations (liabilities) simply by selling itself to another company. Things like the type of entity of the debtor company (was it a corporation? a partnership? a sole proprietorship?) may determine who ultimately has to foot the bill, as well as the structure of the sale (e.g. the acquiror may have merged the target company into itself, which generally means it assumes the target company's liabilities; or the acquiror may have purchased only the target company's assets, leaving the liabilities behind with the company). These are questions your lawyer can help you figure out. Independently of the question of liability, however, when a creditor has sufficient evidence to establish that it is owed a debt by someone, the burden generally shifts to that someone (to the alleged debtor) to show that he's free and clear of debt. Bottomline: I would consult an attorney, and show him your correspondences with the company, including the correspondences with the purported acquiror. He will then decide against whom you should pursue your claim.