I think DSTO and the Foreign Investment Review Board would take...

I think DSTO and the Foreign Investment Review Board would take issue with any foreign company, including Harmony, acquiring this Queensland battler in any way. Even if Harmony or China Inc offers you 50 cents for your MST shares, can?t the FIRB just say No?

Even an Australian entity acquiring MST would want to know in advance that DSTO is going to support them and not terminate any ongoing agreements and make life impossible for MST going forward.

I realise Harmony, like all secured creditors, stands ahead of ordinary share holders in the event of bankruptcy. But, even being a secured creditor doesn't always help. Remember General Motors, in bankruptcy the US govt just told all the (foregin and domestic) secured creditors to get lost and they lost everything along with ordinary share holders!! In other words, any govt can simply declare a contract between private companies null and void when it wants to. Also, the FIRB recently told the Singapore Exchange to take a hike when they wanted to take over the ASX. And this deal had some benfits to the ASX and Australian capital markets.

So I'm not really that concerned with the theory some foreign company is secretly plotting to take over MST without shareholder approval, regulatory approval from the FIRB or DSTO support. Even just getting the MST patents seems impossible. DSTO would want ownership of them first!