It doesn't always work out this way. I was a shareholder in...

It doesn't always work out this way. I was a shareholder in another Aussie biotech, this time in the stem cell business (similar to another company mentioned numerous times on this forum recently, usually not in a positive light). They were trading at around $1.20 in mid-2019 when they received an indicative takeover proposal from a Japanese pharma at $2.00 per share. The stock traded as high as $1.85 before retreating to around $1.50. After a few months, it was announced that discussions had not been successful and that the proposal had been withdrawn. The stock price pretty quickly dropped back below where it was when the takeover was announced, and now trades at around $0.60.

At the time of the offer, I remember numerous opinions posted about how $2.00 was undervaluing the company, that it was too stingy an offer and that it was worth several times more than that. There was also hope that this initial offer would trigger a bidding war with at least one other (also Japanese) conglomerate who was a major shareholder. No other offers were disclosed to the market.

In this case, the takeover never got to the point where shareholders were asked to vote on it, as I assume the board and the would-be acquirer never came to an agreement on terms. Those people saying that it was undervalued at the time may have been correct (I have no idea), however the market since then has not been kind and not been supportive of that opinion.

This is a relatively recent example of how things don't always work out how people might expect with regards to takeovers, and that receipt of a takeover proposal is not necessarily positive for a company or its shareholders.

Personally, I trust that the Race team will seek the right takeover from the right company at the right time, and would much rather wait for that than try to get anything we can now in order to provide a boost to the share price.