Suitor or BustThe departure of Jaguar's CEO of 8 years appears to be a signal that the company will not continue in its current form. Whether or not Mr. Titcomb had a fallout with the BoD, I think he is being used as both a scapegoat and necessary sacrifice. The current BoD want to increase their influence and credibility, from a shareholder's point-of-view, by shouldering the company's lackluster performance on one key figure.
Without a permanent CEO to run the company now, few shareholders will oppose the SAR process in search of a suitor who could create better shareholder value. The absence of a CEO also makes the company more marketable to mid-large cap gold producers since the potential suitor's BoD would have less of a possible power struggle post-amalgamation which makes for an easier transition. The synergies become more obvious as JAG needs new leadership and a potential suitor needs production growth.
Northgate Minerals is a recent example of where its CEO of 12 years had resigned prior to an ultimate takeover by AuRico. NGX was not performing up to par and the BoD had a fallout with the CEO because he wanted to grow the company organically rather than merging. It took 2 months until a deal was struck with Primero and then another 6 weeks until AuRico stepped up.
Today's sharp pullback further shows that shareholders have little confidence in current management. I think this makes the search for a suitor the only alternative especially with no permanent CEO. The timing and terms of a deal, if any, is unclear which makes JAG very speculative going forward. I think a good portion of the shorted stock is probably part of an overall synthetic long put strategy.