@hosh (sorry, the HC “reply” bug strikes again...) Or the bids...

@hosh (sorry, the HC “reply” bug strikes again...)

Or the bids will simply not materialise at all. We must remember there is no pressure on Austal to be acquired by anyone. This story so far has been driven by the AFR’s Street Talk and I don’t think we’ve seen any filings - including new sub notices from prospective bidders accumulating above the 5% threshold - or remarks other than the stock standard financial PR reactive responses from Austal - who, regardless, won’t be at all unhappy that the share price is getting a strong boost from the rumour. They felt undervalued for a long time in the low & below $2 range.

What I find most curious is the relative lack of major independent reporting on this from anybody much outside of the AFR. Especially the silence on this topic from defence writer Craig Hopper at Forbes (a former Austal insider) who last year was the first person to publicly speculate ASB could be in play as a result of Twiggy’s arrival on the scene. He has been extremely insightful previously.

In fact, if you do just a simple Google News search of “Austal takeover” it is quite minimal coverage imo (except for what has been syndicated from the original AFR & West Aus stories) of what one could reasonably assume would be quite a significant story for the industry and the financial press. I find the lack of major news outlet coverage quite odd, to be honest.