Tullow's Heavy says that takeover discussions began around 5...

Tullow's Heavy says that takeover discussions began around 5 weeks ago with Potter over dinner. That was when Potter was in Uganda supervising Mputa testing and talking to TLW and the government about development (18-23 August). The shareprice had run up 20-22 August in anticipation of Mputa results .. announced 22 August .. then immediately fell like a stone the following day when Potter amazed us by releasing the Chinguetti production update!! Could this have been around the same time takeover talks were happening .. you bet!! Did we then get a change of tone from Potter when announcing Uganda results as 30mbbl compared to his AGM enthusiasm ... you bet! While we were all thinking Uganda will save the sp and Potter will want to talk it up bigtime ... he's playing it down. Very sus indeed!

One thing this has taught me is to always trust your own anlysis .. I like many of you knew that HDR was being oversold and was undervalued ... and we were right!

I hope I'm wrong about Potter but I have had my doubts about his capability and intentions on too many occassions now .. I gave him the benefit of the doubt many times but this latest development has confirmed that he has shafted us thru either incompetence or worse .. self-interest. His behaviour in this affair and that of the board is only just short of criminal in my view ... certainly their capitulation is hard to understand. If he is such a smart operator with our best interests at heart why even contemplate TLW's offer conditions .. and why recommend it straight up??? Bizarre! To prove I'm wrong in this ... he needs to explain to the market and shareholders why a "friendly merger" (that's what it is) is in our best interests..... let's see it Simon!

H