Venture capitalists spurred by cheap loans and strong results

It used to be almost guaranteed that nothing of importance would happen in the City of London during August. That is no longer the case, however, and the month started with a flurry of excitement at the prospect of America's PepsiCo launching an unsolicited bid for the French food company, Danone. Thierry Breton, the French finance minister, pledged to protect Danone while labour minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the government would do "all it can" to oppose the putative approach. In the event a PepsiCo bid failed to emerge but such excitement is symptomatic of the mood within Europe. Th...