Their division head Edson Mitchell, one of the most successful investment bankers with an annual salary of over 10 million marks, continued to exert enormous pressure on Breuer via Joseph Ackermann, the division's chief executive. Finally, Breuer capitulated to the pressure of his subordinates. At the last joint session of the two boards of directors on April 5, he placed himself completely on the side of Ackermann, which led to the withdrawal of the Dresdner Bank from the merger negotiations. Made to look foolish by his own staff, the otherwise independent and self-assured Breuer stepped forward with trembling voice to publicly explain the failure of the merger. The Financial Times hit the nail on the head concerning the failed merger when it remarked that Breuer got a bloody nose in the attempt to combine American behaviour with German culture.
Global competition leaves no more room for deviations from the profit yardstick.
The failure of this fusion does not mean an end to the wave of mergers, but only that in future they will be carried out more ruthlessly and more brutally. The pressure of the international financial markets continues to intensify and a whole wave of hostile take-overs will follow. Following the failure, rumours immediately began to circulate that different international banks wanted to take over Dresdner Bank, such as Citibank, Chase Manhattan or the Dutch ABN Amro. Despite its recent record profits, announced almost at the same time as the merger failure, the Dresdner Bank remains a candidate for take-over. International analysts assess its yield is too weak, and say that it has no clear strategy and is set up badly.