I'm actually slightly more optimistic about this now that it's gone public. While one party put it in the public domain to suit them, it seems to me that all parties are benefited by it being public.

APL get to rattle the cage and say get your shit sorted
FC32 get to push that we're ready, but it's others that are the problem
other potential buyers get to stick their hands up and say "we're ready to talk"
current owners get to say that they're ready to sell, but it's others that are holding us up

The only missing piece here is the current owners. Have they actually come out and said they won't fund us next year? They could solve all the issues by saying they will but that they want the deal done.

Anyway, i'm more optimistic that a deal will be done than i was a week ago.