It is normal practice for confidential M&A discussions, especially non-binding, to be kept from market until such time an agreed outcome has been reached by both boards that can be communicated to the market. That's because a lot of such discussions never actually lead to an outcome.
This way WGO board has conducted themselves stinks to high heaven, but that's my subjective take and is meaningless. The actual meaningful issues that need to be addressed are:
Why is the WGO board still addressing the merits of the BPT bid relative to its previous prevailing share price and the STX bid as opposed to the underlying value of its asset? It is possible for WGO board to dismiss both bids as undervaluing the company's asset and reject both bids outright.
What compelled the board to commit to a crappy deal with a break fee even if, in their own words during the AGM, it "only" amounts to less than 1c per share? This shows a total lack of consideration/total disregard for shareholder capital.
Having had access to the STX data as part of their ongoing negotiation (and thus the SE-1 drilling and testing results presumably), and having talked up the potential of EP469 in terms of both NE and S/SW extension, what specific data points did they see that would suggest the possibility of SE not being developed (as mentioned in this announcement)? I can accept Haber as a long term project that still has a few hurdle to cross, but to also suggest SE may not be developed is misleading at best.
If the information presented in this announcement is as simple as it is made out to sound, why did the board repeatedly stated they didn't have the information off the top of their head and appeared all but lost for words/ideas during the AGM? I'd challenge the notion that appropriate due diligence was performed on the BPT bid unless they were not across/involved in the due diligence at all and it was all left to RBC - which then begs the question of why the board would consider giving the nod to such a critical decision without actually being across the due diligence process.
It is surely time to exit the kindergarten and start to think/behave like a mature professional on a $600k annual package.
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WGO Price at posting:
22.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
