RE: requesting insider informationShambano, I agree with you. However, the fact remains that they don't have to release information re: offers until one is accepted.
At my last company (sold last year), a variety of offers were made which were never made public. They were discussed at senior management level, then BOD level, and rejected. Finally, one offer was accepted by the board; this was subsequently disclosed to the market. That's the way it works, whether minority shareholders like it or not!
In theory, we elect the board of directors to act on our behalf at the shareholders' annual meeting. They are our representatives - one share, one vote and all that guff. Who says that minority shareholders get fair treatment, especially when tightly controlled like Husky?
Also, a deal is tentative until all conditions of the offer are met, which generally includes a lengthy due dilligence period which is more in depth than the one done before the offer is made. A number of issues must be dealt with, which require the working stiffs at the company to plow through production tax records, accounts, etc, as well as title searches on the leases held to make sure they actually own the production! Believe it or not, I worked at a company once that bought a pool off a third party, only to subsequently find out that much of it was actually owned by another company (with litigeous lawyers!) Our A&D group were not very dilligent, to say the least. That is what I meant by due dilligence.
Smarmy