§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many formal recommendations he has received from the current Director General of Fair Trading since his appointment; and how many have concerned hostile takeover bids for publicly quoted companies.
§ Mr. Heseltine[holding answer 2 March 1993]: The Director General of Fair Trading has made recommendations in respect of 95 merger cases since his appointment. There is no agreed definition of a hostile takeover bid. However, I understand that there have been five cases involving publicly quoted companies where the management of the target company has recommended rejecting the bid.