This year's abortive £9bn (€13bn) bid by Philip Green, the billionaire entrepreneur, for UK retailer Marks & Spencer typified a new approach to hostile dealmaking.

Superficially, it bore all the hallmarks of a classic 1980s set-to. Green had a dust-up in the street with Marks & Spencer's chief executive, Stuart Rose, who in turn was investigated and cleared by the Financial Services Authority, the UK regulator, on allegations of insider dealing.