I have been given the impression recently that NST may have been...

I have been given the impression recently that NST may have been on the scene earlier than I have seen posted here on HC - which I found interesting.
I couldn't help but wander if MLX came in because NST may have been sniffing and thought they would blindside them with a hurried deal but which had the affect of forcing NST to make the better offer to be put to TAM shareholders? I'm also a little miffed why Cook didn't simply match NST's offer to be put to TAM shareholders who in the end had the last legal say on any so called deal?
Who knows what's really going on behind this - it could be pissing comp between MLX & NST for all we know and TAM is just caught in the middle - the court case could go either way even if TAM feel they have a strong case and MLX could appeal even if they don't have the stronger case and keep it going...

All speculation until we see what happens I guess - the winners are those who manage to stay out of court generally - maybe MLX will feel differently once they split?