Yes Alley, and Santos' counter-strategy was...? umm..?
I am interested to hear db's thoughts as to how, if ESG has a 'spoiler bidder' up their sleeve, wanting to makes some quick money, Santos are going to acquire ESG at +40%..?*
And Alley, in the absence of referring to this issue directly, you seem to be firing blanks.
So the spoiler bidder starts buying ESG at scrip at +45% of the VWAP (higher than the bid price), and no one sells out to the hostile bidder. So what can Santos do? - their only option is to raise their bid by quite a lot, and fast, before the weak hands sell out to the spoiler, the spoiler accumulates a stake and then ESG scrip is tied up even tighter than it was before.
Again, I ask the question, how in this situation would Santos or anyone else get control of ESG at +40% of the VWAP?
I am sure ESG have got very good people working for them. I am not so sure, as db said, that Santos or Origin are much good at takeovers. As db so convincingly argued, their tracks records at M&A isn't great. And the more I read from db (and your good self, Alley), the more convinced of that I am! :)
Yaq
* And this is just one idea, from an amateur such as myself. I am sure that, with multiple parties needing the gas, my spoiler bidder idea won't be needed by ESG. But, as you can see, there are heaps of ways to defend low-ball bid.
+40% of nonsense is still nonsense.
ESG Price at posting:
61.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held