A clearer (?) Greek bond raid FT Alphaville had expected to report the triumphant acquisition of almost 10 per cent of the Greek bond market by a single, little-known investor on Monday. As per the original July 1 deadline on Japonica Partners" unusual offer to bondholders. A pleasure denied: The Acquirer has made three amendments to the Invitation (the "Amendments"): First, the maximum nominal principal amount of Designated Securities that will be accepted for purchase by the Acquirer under the terms of this Invitation is increased to €4.0 billion. Second, the Minimum Purchase Price is reduced to 40.00% of the principal amount of the Designated Securities. Third, the Acquirer extended the Expiration Deadline to Thursday, 1 August 2013, at 5:00 P.M. (CET) and amended the Timetable... The offer's got even bigger. That's an increase in the size of the offer from €2.9bn, a decrease in the minimum price sought (from 45 cents in the euro), and a booting-out of the deadline by another month, according to Japonica's latest press release. We haven't yet heard of the droves of bondholders who might be keen to jump on the offer at even lower prices than last time, but they might be out there. Perhaps driven by "concerns regarding quarter-end portfolio performance markings for such illiquid securities..." as Japonica suggests. But wait - what's this? As stated in the Tender Offer Memorandum, the Invitation does not use a binary tender offer structure of one price for all at the end of the tender. The Acquirer may at any time purchase Designated Securities other than pursuant to the Invitation, in any manner (in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise) and at any price (at prices which may be higher or lower than the Purchase Prices), on terms more or less favorable than those contemplated in the Invitation, from any holder, without notification or announcement. And this? By way of clarification, the Acquirer reserves the right to pay lower prices for successive purchases in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise prior to the Expiration Deadline... Designated Securities validly tendered and not accepted for payment may be withdrawn at any time prior to the Expiration Deadline. The Acquirer has yet to reach an understanding with Euroclear or Clearstream, Luxembourg to make their systems available for the purposes of the Invitation. Holders are advised not to take any action with respect to the Clearing Systems until the Acquirer has issued an announcement or notice. However, the Acquirer reserves the right to implement any alternative settlement procedures to effect the tender procedure, which may or may not involve the clearing systems directly or indirectly or other settlement and tender agents. In light of the foregoing, the Acquirer notes that it can, at its discretion, also utilize customary secondary market practices to effect purchases outside the Invitation. This is something we noted last time. Officially, this tender offer is the "First-ever unmodified Dutch auction for sovereign bonds," as Japonica announced it to the world. But underneath it, you can actually see lots of opportunities for them to buy sovereign bonds the normal way, in the secondary market. Monday's release hints at another opportunity/necessity to do that - in order to get around the fact that Euroclear and Clearstream still won't touch the offer with a bargepole. Bondholders could simply negotiate purchases directly. And with the offer having expanded, they're clearly expecting it will work.