Originally Posted by
Ogg
lol, what are we betting exactly?...
If the take over party was doing due diligence "for months", that means they were looking at this while the share price was in the $7-$9 range. Therefore their take over price would realistically have been at least $9, possibly $10. BUT, throw in the recent downgrade and they probably dropped their offer price down to $7, a figure too low for the board to accept.
HOWEVER, if the share price drops further, to say mid to low $5s, it becomes interesting, as the questions is now "is $7 an acceptable price"? The take over could happen but it doesn't really help shareholders (the bet).
If it is the Chinese, who already have a 10% stake, this "game" could go on for years. They could possible buy another stake later this year, then make another take over attempt. If it is another party, then it's more likely they will either raise their offer or be gone for good, however, that raises the chances of the Chinese making a counter offer.
I'll bet that there isn't much downside. So, if you buy today and the share price drops to low $5s, then the take over party will be back with an offer at $6, thus you will break even. What I bet won't happen, is that the share price will drop to low $5s and the take over party doesn't come back. To sum up, if you buy today, you can't lose, worse case is you break even.