The rise in August probably occurred when preliminary talks with Steinhoff were getting underway and while the cycle still had some legs before interest rates started rising and analysts were getting a whiff of a pending corporate action. This more than any intrinsics or in depth analysis and an attractive historic PE was probably the reason for the I-NET BUY+ recommendation which rather amazingly still stands. The directors on the coal face however are realising their maturing options and running for cover. I suppose if the price continues to sinks further some value will eventually emerge. AMAP, as what is essentially a brand selling business, needs a regular supply of new products and updates to keep momentum so that when competion pulls in the ropes and margins drop they can reinvigorate sales. With the rising stars of first cellular phones and then flat screen TV's started to wane and rising interest rates started to bite Management supported the Steinfurn deal because it represented a major diversification and deepening of their manufacturing base and access to overseas markets as opposed the drab business- as-usual prospects which they now face. They have something a little over R1 a share of cash available but they were prepared to borrow three or four times this against the security and earning capacity of the new assets in addition to the paper offered to facilitate the deal. Two greedy institutional managers suffering from acute quarteritis and myopia, whilst ostensibly supporting the deal, baulked and torpedoed it because they thought Steinhoff would pay over the odds to clear the way for the merger with JD . The 19% premium Steinhoff has now attained for these assets ( 21% with AMAPS present price ) puts this brinkmanship in a rather pathetic light and more strategically minded investors have every right to feel more than a little miffed. In fact if anyone can name the two institutions responsible for the fiasco I am sure a lot of annoyed investors would be more than happy to write them off out of any future investing plans they may