yep, any rival bidder is going to need to make a move now - or...

yep, any rival bidder is going to need to make a move now - or they will lose the opportunity, and L/B will get control. If L/B get say 30%, then it will completely outweigh NHC with 17.6%.

Unfortunately L/B cannot sweeten their offer, unless a competing bid appears. If no rival bid emerges, they would need to wait until their existing bid expired, then launch a new bid at a higher price. Am not sure if they would need to wait a certain period before they did that.