" The question for NOT from a strategic point of view is...what news do you release BEFORE you see a counter offer? If you put out the really good news, the sp of both cos goes up at a 4-1 ratio and the competition has a target to hit. So you withhold the good news until you see the counter offer and then decide what to release"

The trouble with this thinking is that you suppose that there is no such thing as full and prompt disclosure - as if you can break the law at will and withhold news - to be used as a srategic weapon. For a day or two maybe but you are suggesting something else altogether. Anyway how do you know when a counter offer might appear?