It's coming..., page-121

This is congruent with my thoughts Whisky, if an equitable deal was to be done. It also doesn't take much grey matter to conclude that this would be the least disruptive, lowest risk and government friendly way forward from a project standpoint - the path of least resistance, if you will. However, IMO the 'deal window' for WPL is tightening and their best opportunity to seize the day will surely pass if FAR ultimately succeed in their aim to reset the clock. Remaining cognisant of this aim, I suspect FAR may be harbouring different, more aggressive ambitions - as you know, FAR owe nothing to WPL and are likely have government support for whatever cunning strategy they have formulated.

If, after a win, FAR then pre-empt and elect to on-sell part or all of the 35%, WPL could still front up for a bid but IMO they run the very real risk of having the door slammed in their face by larger, hungrier predators (e.g. CNOOC, Total) with significantly deeper pockets who also happen to be closely aligned with strategic national/regional interests. Whoopsie...

Of course, there is still a chance we could walk away with nothing (retain 15%, $1M down the gurgler), but I assign this outcome a low probability on account of what appears at face value to be valid case and the conviction with which FAR are pursuing the matter.

It's anybody's game until it isn't - may the PE gods smile on FAR.

gh.