I feel for you as I had a somewhat similar situation happen to me a few years back. I worked for a large company in Canada (which was #2 in its specific industry), which was bought out by the big dog (which was #1 in the same industry). Due to antitrust laws the sale took quite a while to go through and the buying company had to abide by a wide range of rules in order for the deal to be allowed, which they agreed to. As part of this they were required for a period of time to keep the 2 company separate instead of merging them all under 1 corporate name. Over the next year the main company started making tons of acquisitions of shitty little companies all over the place, wasting money like it was going out of style, and after a period of time were legally able to merge the 2 original companies into the main companies umbrella, and with this me and all my co-workers (1800) were let go at the same time, as one morning near Christmas we were greeted by a was a locked door with a note on it stating the company was having money problems and would need to let us all go, and for us to call a number on the note to schedule a time/date for a 1on1 release where we were to return any equipment we may have on us and to sign all the needed termination papers. Basic jist is corporate loyalty is a thing of the past, and these big companies would throw pretty much all their employees under the bus if it meant the survival of their waste-filled ways for an extra 5 seconds.
With all that said, that situation was a good thing in the long run as it forced me to leave the world of big business which I am thankful for as I am now working for a great small company with people I personally know, which allows me to work from home and set my own hours, and best of all do work I actually like doing. It was a blessing in disguise and knowing what I know now, I would never go back!