Yup, that is the kind of relationship that would lead one to suspect some form of price manipulation.

Any entity trying to make profit on the purchase and sale of stock in the open market would simply keep raising the ask price as demand materialized.

If, however, they are potential players off the open market, they could well spend a few million in losses to keep the price down and potentially reap 10s to 100s of millions in a reduced price in their takeover offer.

I have no clue whether this would be illegal activity or not.

It certainly seems unethical, but "unethical" activities are not always covered by any kind of regulation or law.

Given the large potential of PEM, and the amount of apparent interest from various parties, it would seem quite possible that some entity might be trying this kind of maneouver (illegal or not).

After all, for a large number of people, "it ain't illegal unless you get caught".

If this kind of thing is happening, it is ironic that Cormark (given their public statements of principles, etc.,) could possibly be involved.