The only difference between the original hostile takeover- and leveraged buyout-predators of the 1980s and the current band of Internet dealmakers is that the new generation is using stock certificates instead of junk bonds to snap up rivals.
Their relationship ended during a dispute over the terms of a deal to forge a single business out of Xstrata and Glencore, with Glasenberg annoyed that Davis joined a push for more generous terms, a demand which was met but which also turned a so-called merger of equals into a hostile takeover and the break-up of the team.
Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ) issued a statement this morning confirming that it has done detailed feasibility studies on a white knight bid for Aventis (nyse: AVE - news - people ), which is the target of a hostile takeover by Sanofi-Synthelabo (nyse: SNY - news - people ).