"the problem we are faced with is the lack of buying appetite to...

"the problem we are faced with is the lack of buying appetite to eat the sellers."

Spot on smoking. The lack of bidding depth is indeed the biggest problem. That is something that management needs to address via more frequent updating & consistent news flow. Going at times up to 8 weeks between updates just doesn't cut it with a market that is these days a very demanding beast. But i doubt much is going to change anytime soon.

Management are somewhat protected. The register is so dominated by major holders. Holders who have been there prior to the discovery @ Southern Nights. If that wasn't the case then management may have already found themselves fending off an opportunistic player. A player who had quickly bought a significant stake, demanded board seats & caused them all sorts of grief. In other words they have the comfort of knowing they are not going to lose their jobs anytime soon. Thus have no need to worry about little details like keeping market momentum going. The only time they will be concerned about that is when they go cap in hand again for more money. When that happens i think it will be a carbon copy of last time. Get the old boys club together discuss a price & do the deal over lunch. The rest of us will be unlikely to get a look in.