[Alexx]

In the UK at least, under case law (Hyde v Wrench, 1840), if you give a counter offer it legally voids the original offer. So if you offer to buy something for £1m and the seller responds that they will sell it to you for £2m, the original £1m offer is legally terminated - so in the UK, legally speaking, this would count as a refusal.

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with how this translates over to US law, but I'd be interested to find out.

[dietrichepp]

That's an interesting question about US case law, but my guess is that the negotiations had lots of clauses like "this supercedes any prior offer" and in this case things are a bit cut and dry, legally speaking. That's why we have lawyers, after all.

[SamReidHughes]

I remember learning that this was how things work in the US, too.