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If they paid out most of the cash currently held, (somewhere between $20m and $25m), there could be 20c+ per share available, assuming all applicable tax has been paid. This is hardly enough to make a significant difference to most people's voting decisions.

In practice, of course, the question is essentially academic, as it is unlikely that the Scheme of Arrangement will get up at anywhere near the current price offered by Qiagen.

The CST Board appear to have been blissfully unaware of shareholder feelings and expectations, and to be quite out if touch with reality. In conveying a false impression to Qiagen, CST Board have put themselves in the position of almost certainly plastering large amounts of egg on the faces of the senior members of both companies.

Shareholders have a right to expect a much more sensitive performance from the directors they elect.