why are people buying

I am still holding 3m shares and I pulled the order just before it was about to be filled this afternoon. The reason I pulled it is that I am puzzled by the level of buying. There are individual orders for 5m, 3m and many other large orders.
We could assume it is individual investors having a punt but 5m is pretty decent money. We know the downside is probably 2.7 with cash backing but I still don't get it if this is a dead carcass.

Could this be a company accumulating a large percentage before making a takeover offer.

I do not understand why many shareholders including me see this as a fire sale and dump the shares, when on the other side people are seeing opportunity.

Any ideas?