Schroeder warns against hostile bids in Germany Paris 19 November GERMAN chancellor Ger-hard Schroeder warned foreign companies in an interview published on Friday to be careful when attempting hostile bids on German firms because this could ruin their corporate culture. Schroeder told the French daily Le Monde that he was not opposed to foreign takeovers of German companies but preferred French-German mergers because they were amicable. The chancellor was answering a question about the world's largest hostile bid, a 124bn euro ($128bn) offer by British mobile phone giant Vodafone Airtouch plc for its German partner Mannesmann AG, but did not mention either company by name. "Hostile takeovers destroy a company's culture,” he said. "They harm the target but also the predator itself in the medium term,” the German chancellor added. "Those who launch these operations in Germany underestimate the virtues of co-determination,” he said, referring to the German system that requires employee representatives on supervisory boards. "For these two reasons, I would advise considerable prudence to those who want to launch into such adventures,” he said. "I much prefer French-German co-operation because it is amicable,” he added. "Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to foreigners taking stakes in German companies, but I am opposed to certain methods that are used.” Co-determination, which is enshrined in German law, is a pillar of the consensus culture that dominates the country's business and politics and frowns on hostile open clashes, he said. Vodafone, leader in the fast deregulating and booming European mobile phone market, boosted its offer on Friday to after the German telecoms and engineering group brushed off its initial approaches. Mannesmann's supervisory board was meeting at the group's Duesseldorf headquarters on Friday to discuss the bid. A spokesman declined to say when the group would give its reaction to the new offer. —Reuters
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