no, there is no Formal Offer which has been made.and we might...

no, there is no Formal Offer which has been made.
and we might not even get one.

what has been made, is an "Indicative Proposal"
and that is a big difference.

The "proposer" is saying to WCL Board "we might be prepeared to make a formal offer of 52c IF we can do the following: xyz. And one of those conditions was D/D.

So the Board of WCL determined that the secret "proposer" was fair-dinkum (and not just a tyre-kicker), and that they had the financial resources to complete a t/o, and WCL then proceeded to provide D/D.

A big difference between an Indicative Proposal and a Formal Offer, is legal issues etc. Once a Formal Offer is made, it is subject to all sorts of constraints under the Corps Law and Takeover Provisions. It cannot be withdrawn except under certain circumsatnces etc etc. And if shareholders accept the Formal Offer, then the Offeror must accept those shares and pay for them, if all other Conditions etc are met. So the Offeror cannot simply walk away if it feels like it.

Thus an "Offer" has not yet been made.
The "sticking point" may very well be the price, but we simply don't know? we have not been told.

But the problem is that, even IF the WCL Board and the "proposer" have agreed on a price, that means nothing unless the "proposer" actually lodges a Formal Offer. Because without a Formal Offer, then there is nothing to accept.

its a stand-off.

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20 November 2012
Indicative takeover proposal

"WestSide Corporation Limited (ASX Code: WCL) has received an indicative, conditional, non-binding and confidential proposal from a party which has conducted extensive due diligence on the Company.

This proposal involves the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares in WestSide for cash consideration of 52 cents a share.

The Board has not yet formed a view on the indicative offer price and advises shareholders to take no action at this time while the Board assesses the proposal.

In the meantime WestSide is facilitating access to final due diligence information which the party submitting the proposal has requested.

The Board has agreed with the party which has submitted the proposal that WestSide will not solicit proposals from other parties for a three week period to allow time for further due diligence and negotiation.

Uncertainty remains as to whether any binding proposal which might be acceptable to the WestSide Board will eventuate.

WestSide will keep the market informed of any material developments in accordance with its disclosure obligations.