notification of a forcible buy-out of my shares as part of a take-over of the previous company (which was the privatisation of the old Royal Mail).

it looks like there's no choice to be made in the matter. It's going to happen anyway - it's merely that some people sold out sooner.

they're going to pay me money directly into my bank account (or Building Society?) rather than being really annoying in sending me a cheque. They should have valid banking details if they've been paying me dividends. They certainly haven't been sending me cheques recently.

the conclusion, from looking at the time-line of share price, that it will be a capital loss not a gain from almost any point the shares could have been bought (most likely way back at the start of things). So there shouldn't be extra tax obligations.

in wait-and-see mode on this one.

a shame about the loss. I seem to remember that Royal Mail was taken over by Centrica.

no. It was IDS (and other holding companies) until the recent Czech buy-out.