the late bid on the asset must have trumped the previous bid...

the late bid on the asset must have trumped the previous bid from the competing bidder otherwise the sale would have simply gone ahead.
there would be no point in making a late bid of less value than the bid already offered as it serves no purpose and requires no consideration or action from the ask side,
the ANN does not state the current offer was withdrawn so there must have been a higher late last minute bid made that has delayed finalising the sale.
if the current offer was withdrawn and that is not stated in the ANN then the markets have been misled.
from here on out a late phase competing price bidding upturn should occur which should add significantly to the sale profits.
the ask and the bid were clearly still open until such time a final contract of sale was to be completed.
the market economy dynamic.