Shareholders who stuck with Sir James Hanson's Hanson Trust in the late 1980s and early 1990s know the story all too well. They are not alone. German and Japanese corporations, meanwhile, were digging in for the long term, supported by patient investors and understanding bankers, so the argument ran. The Sunday Times had no doubt. Its analysis featured a giant Union Jack as an illustration.
Jingoism is part of the public relations offensive being mounted to rally support for the deal.
Since the combined company will be headquartered in Britain and since pharmaceuticals is one of the few industries in which the UK can claim to be a genuine contender for world leadership, our politicians are likely to be impressed with arguments such as this, even if the National Health Service is going to find itself up against a much more powerful supplier of an important, albeit relatively narrow range of drugs. The most important point about the new takeover wave, however, is the way it is sweeping not just through the Anglo-Saxon economies, but through continental Europe, too. Much of this activity is part of an industry-specific pattern of global restructuring involving some of the world's biggest companies and some of the most technically advanced or competitive markets. In London share prices of insurance companies and banks have been soaring amid confident predictions that the UK's financial sector is about to undergo a dramatic shake-out. Telecommunications and information technology companies are getting together.