Acquirors have to know if they are going to bid or not. If so, will there be a bidding war that will cost them more than they expect? I dont think they can start a bid elsewhere until the ARU story is resolved. If someone tries and looses, then they can fall back on plan B and launch a bid for company X.
Who, in your opinion, would the runners up be? It might be wise to own a few of them, now that they're on sale (again).
ebear