It seems to be part and parcel of share trading these days. If...

It seems to be part and parcel of share trading these days. If you have access to the funds it appears any institution is willing to lend you shares for a fee and do what you will as long as shares are returned by the due date. Now with large companies eg. ANZ , BHP etc. This short selling is pure speculation and high risk. However when a mid-cap or small cap is short sold ther is usually a motive behind it because as a professional trader the volume and liquidity of these stocks is very risky. In the case of ISF if a trader short sold but also entered into an agreement with the board on a side equity deal based on a discount one would suspect there is something else happening. Why would a company with reasonable access to capital bother with a small equity deal? This is all conjecture of course until outcomes are known. However the normal logic seems to be missing.