Takeovers in Europe Sugaring the pill

摘要

When odafone, a British telecoms company, staged a successful €195 billion ($190 billion) hostile takeover of Mannesmann, a German rival, last year, the deal was hailed as a watershed. "Anglo-Saxon capitalism" was to make inroads into the more consensual culture of continental Europe. Combined with the effect of the euro, a wave of mergers was expected, leading to the restructuring of European industry.