"Well - I have no idea about the legal aspects TBH, but if the...

"Well - I have no idea about the legal aspects TBH, but if the ANZ custodians were to delicately imply that the deal could be more palatable if those resignations were to occur,.."

If anyone representing ANZ made the deal contingent on the resignation of certain individuals, and the ANZ board signed off on that basis, it would raise all sorts of governance questions of ANZ directors.

When presented with the relevant documentation for ratification, I strongly suspect that one of the first things the ANZ's independent directors would ask would be:

"You want us to sign off on a deal that is contingent on certain individuals disengaging from a corporate entity over which we exercise no oversight whatsoever; moreover, the position of those individuals is presently sub judice. Why would we not be deficient in our fiduciary duties if we signed off on a pre-condition for which there is no substantiation nor any basis in fact, and which could, in fact, end up being libellous?"