Bid Bird in Hand - Others Circling

[Palm]

Only a non-bidder can launch a takeover before the "winner" is announced. I think JFT's theory is that a bidder is more likely to want to buy IOC because they already have all of the data and know the government's intentions. These majors partner all the time on these projects to spread risk. A current bidder though must wait until the "final bidding deadline" has passed and the winner(s) is/are selected before they can try and buy IOC out. That's unless an outsider launches a buyout. Then IOC can release bidders to take part in the buyout attempt.