“This has been a unique few weeks. There hasn’t been anything like this before,” said one, somewhat frayed, European equity capital markets banker. He’s right. Just over €5.6bn in shares of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co, the aerospace defence company, has been offered to the market over four weeks, involving six banks, around €30m in fees, hundreds of investors, and some rather mixed outcomes.

The massive sell-down had its origins last October, after the French and German governments put the kibosh on a tie-up between EADS and rival BAE. Assessing the rather public debris, the management of EADS decided to clean up the shareholder register to ensure the company would no longer be stymied by political interference.