Ann: Significant Gas Discovery at Lockyer Deep-1, page-398

I imagine them owning 19.9% already would go a long way to stopping other parties having a go at NWE T/O. So they could go low and likely get enough people accepting at 3-4c (not me for the record). if it's rejected they can increase the offer without fear of a bidding war with a third party. Although I still reckon they already have an agreement with the NWE board for a T/O at a set time, likely after production testing LD-1.