The ability of financial buyers to lead multi-billion acquisitions of European public companies has been thrown further into doubt after the collapse of the latest high-profile takeover pushed the value of failed bids to a record $100bn (€69bn).

Qatari-backed investment fund Delta Two walked away from its £10.6bn (€15.2bn) indicative bid for UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury yesterday after refusing to stump up a further £500m of equity to clinch the deal.