Lilac,Not sure that is the whole story. Have you caught all the...

Lilac,

Not sure that is the whole story. Have you caught all the entities in which Morton and Battersby have holdings?

I believe no. 15, 'Budside Pty Ltd' is Morton, which is another 7m, on top of 18, 'Mr Dennis James Morton' - 7m. So that is over 14m just in those 2. Goodness knows how many other entities he is associated with.

But at least in terms of Dennis Morton, it doesn't look like he has sold down recently. But I am happy to be corrected here.

I have also been told that Doug Battersby still holds 36m shares. Again, I am happy to be corrected if someone thinks otherwise.

Morton and Battersby may see some benefit to holding post-merger with Santos - tax reasons, but also for the 'second lift' they will get when Santos has secured that extra gas. A 3rd Train out of GLNG..? Another reserves upgrade.

90 cents worth of scrip works out to be more than 90 cents if there is known share price catalysts for Santos quickly thereafter... Gas in one end, 3rd Train lined up at the other..?

We have the gas, but no customers; Santos have the customers lined up, but not enough gas for Train 3. So, don't these two ends have to be tied up in parallel? Santos can't negotiate with the Japanese without any gas, and we can't secure a deal with the Japanese without the muscle of Santos and its GLNG project. So ESG and Santos line them up together, in an agreed merger..

It may be a bitter pill for ESG holders to swallow, and we may feel that we are not getting the full value for our gas, but that may be what happens.

Yaq