Fat of the land

Whether you believe the telco transformation story, or that the sector has a one-way ticket to Palookaville, there is certainly plenty of money to be made in the meantime by sucking the blood of the patient. This Financial Times piece cites the fact that globally, telecoms generated $3.8bn in investment banking fees in 2004, putting it in second place behind financials. This morning, France Telecom, 2004's sixth most-active company, is at it again, proposing to take out the Equant minorities for EUR564m. Ch-ching!