RECORD BRITISH TAKEOVERS OF FOREIGN FIRMS

£214bn: Vodafone purchase of German manufacturer Mannesmann in 1999

£98bn: RBS (along with Fortis and Banco Santander) bought Dutch bank ABN AMRO in 2007

£78bn: Glaxo took over rival SmithKline Beecham in 2000

£63bn: Vodafone paid for US wireless telephone provider AirTouch in 1999

£57bn: BP bought US oil giant Amoco in 1998

£6.6bn: Micro Focus deal for US computing firm Hewlett Packard Enterprises this week