The other factor that may have come into play is if you approached the said company and said “ look your helicopter is on our shortlist for say 30 examples and we require 4 in the short term to cover Cyprus and Brunei, what is your best offer”
and bearing in mind they would then be looking at the overall contract and possibly get a foot in the door, you would imagine they would possibly get a cracking deal on a use and return if not selected. I would imagine they would possibly have been able to furnish used or demonstrators.