Temasek takeover of Olam a poorly kept secret?

LOCAL corporate news yesterday was focused on Temasek Holdings' proposed $2.5 billion takeover of Olam International, a large agricultural commodity chain manager and supplier.

Temasek is interested in increasing its stake in Olam which it sees as having a good future. The offer is at $2.23 per share for all the stock that Temasek and its friendly parties do not already own, against the pre-offer price of about $2.

What is upsetting is that there seems to have been a big leak of information on this takeover bid. The stock has been steadily rising on increasing trading volume in the past three to four weeks, taking it from around $1.50 to almost $2 against the generally weak local market trend.