Mortgage Choice chief executive officer Paul Lahiff is keeping an eye on the unconfirmed media speculation of Commonwealth Bank buying Aussie, commenting at yesterday's annual results about the media's perceived price tag, "And what it says to us is there is a strong value attached to independent credible brands."Over and above that, on the types of numbers that were spoken about in the context of that article (Financial Review), it would certainly give the board confidence that the rejection of Count's offer at the price offered was validated."So we see significant value in our brand going forward."The Count Financial $1.05 implied scrip offer in late July did at least halt the Mortgage Choice share price downward spiral that started in July 2007 at around $3.40, hitting July 2008 lows below 80 cents.Count has a market capitalisation of around $420 million, about three times that of Mortgage Choice, and currently holds a 4.9 per cent stake in the broker. On the Count proposal, Lahiff commented, "The offer was uninvited and unsolicited, so Count saw an opportunity and put a proposition to us. The Board determined that the price offered was very opportunistic and therefore rejected the offer."The view was the offer underrepresented the true value in both the short, medium and longer term of the company and on that basis the Board decided that it didn't really have an interest in proceeding."That was communicated to Count; we are aware that they made comment on Monday. They have indicated that if they are unsuccessful in the offer, they would continue to be an investor - which we are pleased about; obviously they see value in the company."The situation is as it stands, I guess it's in Count's corner if they decide to increase that offer."I did note that they said that they did not intend to increase the offer at this time, but clearly that is not in our domain."