RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:CEO Exercising Options - BUYOUT must be imminent!!Obviously, I am not privy to her personal affairs, so I cannot say for sure.
All I can say is that it is UNLIKELY that tax was a driving factor.
If I had to guess, I would think most likely reasons are as follows:
1) To send a positive message to "the street" and other shareholders-if that was the reason, it sure seems to have worked, or
2) To tidy up or simplify for the ultimate BO in the sense that the buyer does not have to factor in an amount for having LME pay an amount to her to cancel her options, or something similar.
But, whatever the true reason is, it is hard for me to believe that she would make a move like that if she didn't think that ultimate BO was going to happen in not too distant future