So the large cross trade @Cherry7 pointed out the other day was...

So the large cross trade @Cherry7 pointed out the other day was MS.
This is a large holding, probably somewhere in the Top 30.
This suggests to me MS are in cahoots with other brokerage firm/s as it was a S3 crossing, as I can't see a top 30 holder selling at so close to the SOA (i.e. if they were going to sell, they'd have done it already).


The two main possibilities for why MS are accumulating:
- they might think they can make a profit by accumulating enough to block the SOA and then negotiate with STX for a better deal. You'd think they'd need around 15% to be confident (with another 10% coming from irate shareholders). There is little downside here; if it doesn't work, they simply end up with STX stock.
- they are using TPD to acquire STX stock via the back door. If they can get 1.5-2.0% of STX via the SOA, and are hovering just below 5% for STX (hidden behind nominee accounts), they only need to get another ~3% to get to 10%, which is an important threshold for blocking hostile takeovers from other parties.

I'm leaning towards the second option. But as both a TPD and STX shareholder, it's great to have a 'big boy' acquiring stock in TPD at this late stage.