RE:more downsideSome good points. My 2 cents:
1) Agreed, the Blackstone deal is taking much longer than expected. I suspect its because Blackstone came in with a low-ball offer. MT decided to test the market for real and hired advisers for the sales process.
2) The Company needs money for its earnouts (about $200M or so) for this year. They're saving cash for that reason. I think if there is no more acqusitions, debt payments would follow in Q3. They probably want to build up more cash in Q1 and Q2 to ensure they have enough for earnouts as they are due before debt payments.
3) Pref shares have more to do with flexibility of financial structure than paying down debt. They're probably for acqusitions. I would find it rather obsurd that they would issue prefs at higher rates and pay debt.
4) MT is a public company CEO, not a private company CEO. His shareholders are hurting from the price drop and want some action. I agree he shouldn't worry but short-term, he has to answer to his shareholders so something needs to be done. If this was a private company, the shareholders would be a lot more patient.
5) I agree. I've also not a fan of Friday morning earnings releases. I think they should've released on Thursday night so we could get sometime to digest it before markets. I don't know if this means the results are soo good that they require little analysis or if they're soo bad that they're hoping short time frame will prevent massive share price loss.
6) Agree on Donnatel and eager to findout about it on the CC. I'm more eager to find out about the AMCO portfolio.