"I thought the interested parties that may have been close to a deal and then backed out were majors."

In that there was never any formal expression of interest one way or another, how do you measure that?  Just what does "interest party" mean?  Certainly, that falls short of a confidentiality agreement (CA), does it not?  Speaking of such, you are asking something similar to, "Are they still interested?" following the signing of a CA.  None who enter such agreements ever come back to say, "no, we are no longer interested".  They just fade away or malinger forever.  Oh, and malingering can sometimes be misconstrued as interest by those who don't know better.  Could that be what you are referencing? 

Disregard my opinion(s), and those of folks talking into their hats.  That last link I posted makes the facts clear, and by an unbiased professional market observer.  Bank on it!