All second hand knowledge. Had a friend who was o

All second hand knowledge. Had a friend who was on their team that evaluated possible acquisitions and he said they would do anything, anything, to screw over the possible acquisition so they would be able to pay minimal amount. Nothing outlandish with this thinking except he said he thought they went way overboard in what they would do to secure even minor savings. My friend left them on good terms so had no axe to grind though he did say they brought in a bunch of Harvard bean counters who couldn't find their butts with both hands.

I also heard, again second hand, that they were known to secure offshore agents to play just the type of naked shorting and dirty deeds we have seen happening to IPIX to bring startups into financial death spirals.

Maybe this is just SOP for BPs, but IMO they seem to be among the worst at having a scorched earth policy in attaining acquisitions. I stress again, this is just my opinion and all based on second hand information, but information received thru channels I trust.