Sane acquisitor would not 'test the market' this way on M&A a listed company listed. It'd happen in Japan, where percentage of privately owned shares are very high, but it is rarely seen in other exchange markets, where there are regulations on the percentage of shares a single entity could own.

During the takeover (we'd normall announce as acquisition), the total present value of a corp is being evaluated, at this stage we really need to hire a group of real financial evaulators. The report would then be used in the M&A negotiation. The amount of M&A would be agreed and endorsed, options issued would then be executed.

Of course there exists hostile M&A, where negotiation is done under table with major stakeholders so as to acquired enough voting-stocks to influence the decision of the board to pass unfavorable deals to the rest of the stakeholders.

No matter which method, M&A of a listed company is not an easy task, and that requires highly experienced and talented mind to complete the deal. Elop is one of the famous figure in financial world who has the experience, capabilities and resources to close deals as such.

Financial sectors in general know what Elop is up to when he assumed the duty of Nokia. It's expected that the future strategies of Nokia would entirely head toward the M&A path, through, say, devaluation of stocks by periodic announcement of bad news, cutting down the divisions where company life is depending on, layoff of key personnels, etc.