stone cre debacle.

I'm a very patient man,and more than happy to sit back and observe a deal inexorably unfolding to fruition.Most people here already know my disappointment in the way this takeover was handled.A few posters in reply to my earlier frustrations have mentioned that it is not always possible to negotiate a 100% company takeover for various reasons,which I have always accepted.However I cannot accept it in this case,and still believe it was very badly thought through.I have no truck whatsoever with the business acumen of acquiring CRE, but to agree the deal with Stone in the background borders on unnecessary desperation in my view.CRE were on their knees and could not believe their luck when,firstly,FML gave them a financial helping hand,followed up by the offer to buy them out.They were so desperate to take the offer,they could not get the acceptance recommendation to their shareholders out quick enough.In fact - to me - the desperation seemed SO intense that many on here (myself included) were thinking that our board had lost the plot. Slowly, but surely,superb highly dilligent and knowledgable posters dug deep and supplied us with well researched information on CRE and the impact it would have on the greater scheme of things,and it began to look like a very shrewd move,and so,I now believed it was,until the stumbling block called Stone emerged from the shadows.Now I'm not an expert in business,but I'm no dope either,so am I truly meant to accept,that given the position that CRE were in at the time,we could not have negotiated a better deal than this. It's all very well to say the price was dirt cheap,but how cheap is cheap when you are in the driving seat and the prey is nipples up,and if it meant having to drag a third party along too with all the unknowns and added hassle that would inevitably incur,was it SUCH a good deal that we had to forge ahead regardless anyway.My personal take on it is that the agreement was poor.I believe we rushed a weakened decision from a position of strength,and I believe the reason we are all clueless as to the position to date,is because our board are backed into a corner desperately trying to figure out the best way forward,and the longer no news is forthcoming the more we will eventually have to suffer financially. I believe in FML. I believe in the fundamentals,and I believe in the future prospects of the company, but until DB have finished unloading (which from personal experience with other shares I have owned) takes far far longer than one would imagine,and until we get some credible information on how the CRE/STONE debacle is resolved,the sp will not attain the position it deserves.