Ann: Receipt of Non-Binding Indicative Conditional Proposal, page-21

"Market hit the $34.50 yesterday which is hard to understand for a non-commital offer at $34.50."

I have found over time that there are no hard and fast rules that can be applied universally to stocks trading under takeover offer status.

Sometimes they trade at a discount to the see-through takeover offer price, to reflect execution uncertainty; sometimes they trade at a premium to reflect the prospect of interloper(s) coming over the top with higher bid(s).

It really depends on the individual circumstances.

I think that with CTX now "in-play" and given the uniqueness and scarcity of CTX's asset base, the chance of a competing bid appearing is not nil (don't get me wrong, I don't think it is high, either...maybe 20% probability, if I was pushed for an number.)

Not just that but there is also the non-insignificant additional value in terms of the way any final deal will be structured in terms of expunging the ~$1bn in franking credits (which will be of no value to Couche-Tard, or any other foreign-domiciled entity) and the associated potential to crystalise a tax asset for some shareholders, depending on what they paid for their shares.

So it should not come as a surprise that CTX is trading at the takeover offer price; in fact, it is a bit surprising that it took a few days to reach it.

And it will not be too surprising if it drifts up in coming days to trade 3% or 4% above the $34.50 takeover offer price.