I believe Lucky has it right as to the reasons why they do this that way. I personally have never ever seen a divi like this in my 15 years of investing. Not sure if this has ever been done by any company in the past.
I personally think that all of this is not worth it. I for one will most likely sell the day before the record day since I don't hold enough shares either way to make it interesting to go through all the hassle because of a few bucks which I might get or not in 2 years.