They had already been told it would not be sold to them.
Did they ever test that theory? No, I didn't think so. Why not? It seems to me testing that theory would have been a huge PR win for SISU if they had have tabled a bid similar to Wasps bid with an extended lease for the councils share. It also would have protected the Ricoh from Wasps bid. The council would have had difficulty explaining why they turned down a similar bid from the club before excepting the Wasps bid. So why didn't they do it? My guess would be they couldn't run the risk of the council excepting the bid.
All SISU have done is push the Ricoh further away not only with their rhetoric but there actions. They made it so easy for the council and Higgs to sell it on it's amazing they didn't sell the moment the ground share was announced at Sixfields and then couple that with all the we've moved on and are building anew talk it's even more amazing.
You're promoting a theory at the moment that the deal for Wasps to take over the Ricoh started 2 years ago so perhaps you can explain why the council didn't do the deal a year earlier?