Evidence that foreign takeovers aren't always good:

from The Times today (my bold/italics):

Vive la France! Almost 17 years after the (messy) merger of B&Q and Castorama the French have (finally) seized control of DIY retailer Kingfisher. Alongside full year results this morning Véronique Laury, the new(ish) chief executive of Kingfisher, has announced the departure of Kevin O'Byrne, the chief executive of B&Q and former contender for the top job. The three most senior executives at Kingfisher all now hail from France. Kingfisher has confirmed the closure of 60 B&Q stores this morning and a handful of European stores, although it is interesting to note that the UK business has actually outperformed France, with profits up 16.5 per cent in the UK and Ireland, but down 6 per cent in France. We'll have a full story shortly on the Kingfisher results and strategic review on www.thetimes.co.uk/business.