re: Ann: Becoming a substantial holder in BOW... There are one...

re: Ann: Becoming a substantial holder in BOW... There are one or two things going under the radar at present.
1. Supposing Shell etc. are providing the finance for this takeover then when they would have been crunching numbers our dollar was nudging $1.10 now it's struggling to make 95c which means a 15% discount to what they originally intended. A 15% increase in offer would increase the offer price to nearly $1.75. A far more attractive figure, I think we would all agree. Maybe not fair value but probably acceptable for most.

2. Any other foreign bidder crunching numbers using US dollars would be realising that BOW is about to be sold off extremely cheaply. Depending on how agile and enthusiastic their boards are will determine whether a counter bid emerges. My guess is about 50/50 - my head says
no since a lot of negotiating has been going on for a long time with other parties with no one willing for a JV.
My heart says this is too tempting to turn up and maybe that will bring out a bidder. My more sinister side says this is all part of a larger play where we will see consolidation among some of the majors so why fight each other now in a bidding war when further down the track there will be mergers.

I'm sorry but my vote is no (just) to another bidder but I'll be delighted to be shown I was wrong.