Germany not being America, Viag is probably not yet vulnerable to an unwanted takeover.

ECONOMIST: Cross-border mergers

All of this leaves questions hanging over Viag, the smallest of the big three.

ECONOMIST: German conglomerates

Others are expected to follow: Viag, Veba and Bayer may soon all spin off underperforming units.

ECONOMIST: Restructuring corporate Germany | The

His attempts this week to explain that Viag has a strong future alone left investors scratching their heads.

ECONOMIST: Cross-border mergers

Two of the most powerful new competitors, Otelo and Viag Interkom, have yet to roll out their services fully.

ECONOMIST: Deutsche Telekom

Viag's shares have fallen by a quarter in the past year.

ECONOMIST: German conglomerates

But they still have far to go, and Viag even further.

ECONOMIST: German conglomerates

Meetings between Algroup managers and Viag's union representatives, who were to have several seats on the board, went badly, convincing the Swiss they would have a hard time cutting costs.

ECONOMIST: Cross-border mergers

Viag comes out of the mess looking shaken.

ECONOMIST: Cross-border mergers

For the soon-to-merge German utilities Viag and Veba, both of which trade at an enterprise value (market cap plus debt) of less than six times operating income, government threats to shut down nuclear plants are enough to scare away investors--both financial and strategic--no matter how cheap the stocks.

FORBES: Bargains And Dogs