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Microcap & Penny Stocks : ABTX - Agribiotech -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: glen who wrote (6841)	1/7/1999 7:50:00 PM
From: InvestorLady	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 8359

Why ABTX chose to write the press release regarding the Helena deal in such an adverse manner, non-condusive to negotiations, is beyond me. Certainly a better choice of words could have been found if they seriously wanted to continue negotiations. Simply stating due diligence uncovered information that required abtx to factor in these new discoveries, leading to re-negotiations, without saying adverse and inconisistent business practices would have been the better choice. It left no room for Helena but to strike back! So, in this case ABTX deserves what it gets regarding the lawsuit of a scorned fledgling. Even if it has no basis, they asked for this imho. In the long run, it doesn't mean much if they get Helena or not from a revenue issue as it was about $15 MM or less than 4% of ABTX's current run rate. Who knows what they found in the breeding program that doesn't comply with ABTX's standards. Of the 33 acquisitions, only one was cancelled prior to announcement that I know of, due to their DD uncovering unacceptable biz underneath the books and ABTX not taking it further. I think they know what they are doing here and I tend to believe that IF ABTX wanted to close the deal and IF cash was an issue, they would have either raised more money via private placements or simply extended the closing date per both parties agreement. Adding 2-3 months on to a deal is not a big deal in biz buyouts. Lawyers frequently delay things anyway with their reviews/drafts/billings. ABTX found something they didn't like. It wasn't bad enough to stop negotiations, but it needed to be factored in to the price. My guess is Helena wanted more money. ABTX wouldn't budge and Helena dropped discussions, as they said they did. Too bad this was aired in the press rather than dealt with behind the scenes as most biz deals are. In this case, I feel Blooperberg was meddling---not getting news---when they went a calling on Helena to see how things were progressing. And Helena was really dumb for granting them an interview, unless this was a planned strategy to play hardball. IF it was, it back-fired. Who knows? Only the players do. Bottom line is, I doubt this will have any impact on the proposed buy-in or buy-out. It is a nuisance problem at this point. One ABTX had a big hand in bringing on themselves with horrendous PR. I can understand ABTX wanting to right the ship of Doomberg by making it clear there were issues of smart buying, not problems with ABTX. But they needed to find better language to do so. Today is THWAP day for ABTX for bad PR. The call activity today was HUGE for April. Gotta wonder what that was all about...:) Lady