Rules and insiders increasing their positions........Gobomber: I just have trouble beleiving there are a sufficient number of uninformed / stupid people who actually beleive the family will cede any control.
I could well be wrong, but I'm really sceptical about the 21% + spread - it is very large and recent.
The family has gotten so much flack from the media and others, it would not surprise me for them to announce at a later date (when convenient for them) that they have even increased their ownership, even if it is by a modest amount. If the family is confident in the company's success, they don't care about paying today's premium now when shares remain cheap.
Once insiders holds more than 10% of a public company's shares, the reporting rules allow insiders to sell or purchase shares in the public company (an increase or increase in their position) and does not need to be reported publically, unless the change is greater than 2.5% of their initial holding.
As you pointed out, in normal circumstances the B shares rule the price, However, in this case, should the family reveal their increased ownership, it helps to add credibility. The B shares would now gravitate up closer to the A price.
Remember, there is a lot of pride in this family business, and they want to show good faith!