TheStreet – A committee of U.K. lawmakers Thursday, July 25, revived the debate about limiting the voting power of hedge funds during takeovers and called on the government to study merger policies in comparable jurisdictions amid skepticism about the benefits of M&A.
The Business Select Committee issued its recommendations in response to a year-old report by economist John Kay on how to combat “short termism” in the City. That report was commissioned in the wake of frustration about the-then Kraft Foods’ controversial 11.9 billion euro ($18.2 billion) purchase of Cadbury in February 2010, which was facilitated by the arrival of hedge funds on the storied confectioner’s share register.
