There are always punters waiting to get out for whatever reason...

There are always punters waiting to get out for whatever reason (especially when there has been consistent low volume trading for a lengthy time) and these liquidity events enable them to do so, so until the real show (gov approval) starts any minor liquidity event will allow those with a few shares to offload them without smashing the depth. These results will be properly priced in once gov approval is obtained IMO.