Fortress bid for Morrisons shows efficiency in exuberant M&A

For anyone who grew up in the north of England, Morrisons has always been somewhat iconic. Any Saturday morning spent people-watching over a cooked breakfast in the café at one of its bigger stores would reveal humanity in all its wonderous variety: from the radiant to the grotesque.

But it still comes as a surprise to find the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain at the centre of the powerful currents now driving an extraordinary wave of M&A that is captivating corporate financiers, public market investors, private-equity sponsors, lawyers, bankers, analysts and rating agencies.