What to say? Apparently the Board "remains optimistic" in regard...

What to say? Apparently the Board "remains optimistic" in regard to the sale.... it seems more as though they have been blinded by optimism.

It would be interesting to know what steps they have undertaken to verify the credentials of Aschmoun, Serdonko and their funders. If all these entities have been able to appear more credible at close range than 20 minutes spent on Google would suggest, then lets hope at the very least that the company has handed their information to investigators of some description to confirm motive and connections. For this to withstand any scrutiny, there would surely have to be either sufficient depth of people and organisations involved against which charges could be filed for the failure to settle, or else there is deliberate criminal behaviour that requires investigation.

As for the rush to shore up the business, it is a shame that many of these steps were not taken earlier due to director optimism. Gregory appears to be a growing business with a strong book of federal clients. This should be a manageable business that should be able to fund "managed" growth rates without becoming a drain on cashflow.

The Technology Division seemed clearly likely to suffer due to the odd change of ownership - in particular, it seems hard to imagine there were going to be many government contracts with an unknown offshore potential owner in the wings. While it must have seemed difficult to pare back the business without risking impact to a possible sale, it seems they have allowed themselves to be backed into a near impossible situation that has put the entire business at risk.

I think we should say it... Aschmoun/Serdonko are NOT going to settle. The sooner they put aside the optimism, the more likely it is that the company can survive (although perhaps not management!).