It’s the process rather than the principle of pre-emption rights – whereby all shareholders have the privilege to buy shares in proportion to those they already own – that has caused most of the confusion and delay. The Australians have adopted a twin-track system in which the institutions deal with their rights before the offer is opened to smaller investors, thus giving the company the money much quicker. Every now and again, the big investment houses, particularly the Americans such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, raise the issue – perhaps because they can see more clearly how well the alternative placing of shares works in their home markets. Daniels had been looking at bidding for Deutsche Postbank, the German retail bank which is part of the giant Deutsche Post, and at Dresdner Bank, owned by the insurance group Allianz. read more

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