The return of the deal
Do four billion-dollar bids in a week herald a new merger wave?
PERHAPS British Airways is retiring Concorde too early after all. In its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, the supersonic jet was full of investment bankers and advisers criss-crossing the Atlantic as they rode successive waves of mergers and takeovers. After the collapse of the merger market two years ago, Concorde was four-fifths empty (until the recent boom in “last chance” passengers). By the time it takes off for its final commercial flight in October, America and Europe could, on this week's evidence, be riding a merger wave worthy of the glory days of old.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The return of the deal”
From the July 12th 2003 edition
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