The ABB offer has turned into a binding one, and the SYM board has until the end of the month to recommend it.

No material change to the terms.

Now things are getting interesting.

Aussie Broadband has waded into the waters with a 75/25 cash/scrip default offer, valuing SYM at $3.15, with the option for the Symbio board to declare a special dividend that will release an additional 15c in franking credits.

So this could be the start of a bidding battle - I wonder if this is as good as it will get for SYM shareholders?

Disc.: ABB and SYM held.

Superloop has come back with an enhanced offer, which it terms as its "best, improved and final offer".

It's a bit complicated, but the gist is that the implied value of SYM shares is slightly higher than the initial proposal ($2.91 v/s $2.85 under the default 50:50 cash/scrip mix), and that Symbio shareholders have more flexibility in choosing the mix of cash and scrip they want to accept. A 15cps special dividend is also on the table should the SYM Board choose to declare it.

I'm not sure it's that much of an improvement at all overall.

After issuing a trading update confirming guidance and noting the stabilisation of demand from its marquee customers, the shares have staged an impressive one-day rally.

Follow through will be crucial from a technical perspective, as the shares are trading right at the bottom end of the big gap caused by the initial downgrade in December. Filling that gap (up to around the $2.50-55 mark) and consolidating above it over the coming weeks may imply that the turnaround is complete, but right now, it is not out of the woods yet.

Sure enough, here comes the trading update with a big downward revision at the midpoint. The price action in the lead up was telling.

I currently hold a small position (have been in and out of the name a couple of times for modest profits over the years), and I am not a TA guru, but looking at the long term chart, SYM has been in a steep downtrend in recent months that finds the shares hanging above lows going back about 8 years, excluding the brief Covid shock/plunge. It has to hold above those levels, or the odds are good for further drawdowns (barring any material fundamental developments in the meantime).