So if EXEL's motivation (primary or material) was to raise money, it served no purpose at all in that regard…
EXEL may have intended to raise money during the summer and backed off due to market conditions.
If this question were answerable and I could bet on the answer, I would take the reason presented in #msg-68571001 rather than the two cited by biomaven in #msg-68564040.
“The efficient-market hypothesis may be the foremost piece of B.S. ever promulgated in any area of human knowledge!”