Invensys paid Euros 762 million to buy Baan in 2000. Baan was sold in 2003 for $130 million. 3. Taylor Woodrow - Wimpey
Taylor Woodrow bought Wimpey for £5 billion in 2007. Since then £4 billion has been wiped off Taylor Wimpey's share price. 4. HSBC - Household
HSBC bought Household for $15 billion in 2003. By the end of 2007, HSBC had written down $17.2 billion on Household's value. 5. Quaker Oats - Snapple
In 1993 Quaker paid $1.7 billion for Snapple, outbidding Coca-Cola in the process. In 1997, Quaker sold Snapple for $300 million. 6. BMW - Rover
In 1994, BMW bought an 80 per cent of Rover for £800 million from British Aerospace, and a 20 per cent holding from Honda. After investing millions, it sold the whole company back to the 'Phoenix Four' for £10 in 2000. Rover went bust 2005. 7. Royal Bank of Scotland - ABN Amro
The Royal Bank of Scotland and two other European banks paid Euros 71 billion for part of the Dutch lender ABN Amro, which RBS's arch-rival Barclays had agreed to buy. RBS may have to write-down up to £45 billion on the value of ABN-Amro and RBS is now owned by the UK government. 8. France Télécom - Orange
In 2000, France Telecom bought Orange for Euros 45 billion. The stake has been written down several times since. 9. Daimler - Chrysler
Daimler paid $36 billion in 1998 to buy Chrysler. In 2007 80 per cent of Chrysler was sold to Cerberus for $7.4 billion. In 2009 Chrysler needs US government bail-out. 10.British and Commonwealth Holdings - Atlantic Computers 1988
After £434 million takeover, both companies were bankrupt within 12 years.
11. Morrisons and SafewayThe takeover, in 2005, of Safeway Supermarkets by Morrisons has destroyed a third of the merged company's value and the whole process has raised