RE:Help from down under BNPP wasn't interested in running a mine. Silver Lake is a miner, and at a quick look, a successful one. Obviously they're interested in the mine as an operation.
They could have got the assets by making an offer to buy up all the outstanding shares, and settling up the debt with BNPP and Appian. They didn't do that. Instead they chose to buy BNPP's share of the debt, which has a first lien on all the assets and is in default. Looks to me like they think forcing bankruptcy will be a cheaper way to obtain the assets.
I certainly don't think this makes a buy out more likely. OTOH, I suspect the market may react positively to the news. I don't normally make public predictions, but tomorrow might be a temporary high on the road to 0. If I owned Harte, I'd be selling it tomorrow to buy Silver Lake.
OTOH, I might be totally wrong on that call. lol