Two deals show how families and politicians can scupper takeovers in Europe
Five of the world's top ten mergers and acquisitions last year took place in Europe, and the value of European deals exceeded those in America for the first time. Many of the deals were cross-border acquisitions, dominated by Spanish firms buying everything in Britain that was not nailed to the floor. Does that mean corporate Europe has suddenly developed a taste for Anglo-Saxon capitalism, takeover bids, mergers and all?
Not exactly. The European takeover trail is full of elephant traps and other pitfalls for the unwary, as two stalled deals illustrate. This week MAN, a German truck and engineering group, formally had to abandon its bid for Scania, a Swedish rival. At the same time Gaz de France (GDF) revealed just how long and drawn-out its frustrated plan to merge with Suez, a French utility group, has become.
The MAN deal failed because its approach was seen as hostile by Scania's two biggest shareholders, Volkswagen (now in effect controlled by the Porsche and Piëch families) and Investor, the investment company owned by the Swedish Wallenberg family.
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