Too many conspiracy theorists in here. Sure, the stock is...

Too many conspiracy theorists in here. Sure, the stock is shorted, but not particularly heavily. 2-3% of shares shorted MAY be above the market average (1 - 2%) but certainly not anomalous (eg, MGX at 7%, CAB at 8%, etc).

Whenever there are price movements that go against current shareholders views, the "manipulation" accusation surfaces. The reality is that you'd need a bottomless pile of shares to achieve that. Even shorting wont help: if the market thinks the company is worth it, they'd gladly buy in to the shorts to have cheap shares delivered to them. Bottom line: uncertainty is driving the share price; a common driver for many "unloved" shares.

The more logical argument is that PRG had a watching brief on SKE and when the shares weakened they launched their bid. I may be wrong, but am backed up by history.