Are WES culpable in this?

So this becomes very intriguing to me and poses a nagging question

Firstly, not overly surprised at the decision given that Mahathir is elected my people in Malaysians and Lynas shareholders don’t get to vote. I have no doubt this is a politically motivated decision trying to reach a political comprise between the domestic Lynch mob and scientific / economic rational behaviour which is needed for ongoing international investment.

But my major concern the quote attributed to Mahathir by the Reuter’s article as follows:

"We have opened up the business to other people, and there are other companies willing to acquire Lynas," Mahathir said.

Given that Malaysia is a demorcray and observes property rights, what right so they have to open up a foreign owned company to other people?
seems to me this is a big over-reach or what a democratic government should be able to do. Surely one of the great threats of foreign investment is the nationalization of assets, and surely trying to assert you are selling something THAT YOU DONT ACTuALLY OWN, would surely form some type of illegal seizure / control of property.

overall, it makes me wonder what role WES have had in this, and how consistently their offer and subsequent PR align with the specified conditions from cabinet. Therefore, whether malicious or not, the end effect is to also impact all the shareholders negatively.

I wouldnt ever expect the Malaysian government to be held to account by ASIC, but it does beg the question and WES’s interference, intentional or otherwise.

so one last question, with a big IF - that is IF WEs’s involvement had an impact, would they be exposed to an action by ASIC, or perhaps (dare I say) a shareholders class action?

thoughts for a Friday night...

YS