Going hostile

摘要

A year ago, Klaus Esser was reaping praise. Although he had failed to fend off a hostile bid by Britain's Vodafone Air-Touch for Mannesmann, the German firm he then ran, he had fought fairly, eschewing nationalistic, "barbed-wire" tactics. The result was not only the priciest merger ever, but also the first hostile takeover of a German company by foreigners.