Ann: Consortium increases cash consideration to $9.53 per share, page-35

"Why is the board telling us to vote in favour?"

Short answer: Because the board agreed with the consortium to unanamously support the bid (qualified by the customary "in the absence of a superior offer"), in exchange for a slightly higher first offer. Maybe an o.k tactical move in enhancing the first offer. But......, with the length of the scheme implementation and the necessary approvals (ACCC/FIRB etc), what the board should have done is to have further qualified their support with the fairly common rider: "in the absence of material changes in the value of the Company assets, material changes in market conditions, or other material changes in other factors relevant to the value of the company occurring after the first offer". This would have covered things like the rise in the value of Octopus, performance of APLNG and the favorable resolution of the issues in Energy Markets.

By not adding the additional qualifier, the board appears to have (in effect) granted something that very much resembles a FREE 12 month call option to the consortium, with a bargain priced (IMHO) right to extend that call option for a .045 cents per share, per month. (See Ticking Fee and compare against the price of 12 month dated calls on ORG).