My apologies for posting as certainty items that have are speculation.
AAB just announced they bought $1M worth of Fura stock. The capital for that came from somewhere within the existingprotfolio. LIX shares seemed the obvious source.
This prompted speculation on the AAB board that the capital for the purchase came from post AAB selling some LIX shares post take over bid announcement . Somewhere in those discussions someone tossed tout "AAB sold $3M shares" out in an authoritiative way but in fact , its all speculative. As usual with Stan Barthi, if your familiar with the way he operates, no firm facts as to either i) what his plan is for the vote nor ii) what AAB's recent LIX activity looks like. Probably won't know for sure until the deadline for Q1 SEDAR submissions comes and goes.
That's Stan in a nutshell, a black hole for guidance ;o).
What we do know for sure is that, as oif DEc 31st, 2017, AAB owned 6M shares which means AAB have 7% of the vote. Any early 2018 activity for AAB doesn;t change that. I'd be surprised Stan DIDN''T vote, one way or the other, based on his views of LIX's future. To not vote would be totally irresponsible stewardship.
25M shares changed hands from Dec 18- 31st. Assuming no one bought and then sold as well and all those are therefore unique shares ( no dupes ) which = a big assumption. GIven that everyone who bought between the announcement and DEc 31st can vote, and almost certainly will vote YES ( they bought to realize a quick 10-25% win with no risk other than an NO vote) that represents almost 30% of the outstanding float being firm YES votes. THe number of unique shares traded in that period is more likely 20-25% of the voting shares. They all have to bother to vote too ... and much of this block will be smaller, retail investors who might not bother, while the insiders holding huge blocks and options that trigger at $2.75or $3 will def vote with their options giving them incentive to hold out. Management, who I beleive own something like 4-6% of the float have endorsed the deal.
The YES' need 66% of the vote, they probably have roughly 30% of all voting shares locked up between MGMT and late DEc 2017 buyers. The NO's need 34% to carry the day. AAB holds a 7% swing in one direction or the other. Basically, Stan's AAB vote is likely to be a deal maker or breaker.
Don't discount the possibility the directors and Chinese purchaser may be well aware of this fact ... and that back room dealings invovling Stan's off shore accounts and such may be going on in order to secure a YES vote from AAB .... call me cynical when it comes to Stan Barthi ;o).