Barometer | 23 February 2017

Big league

Lincoln City became the first non-league club since Queens Park Rangers in 1914 to win a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals. But what happened in 1914? — There were only 40 league clubs and QPR won a bye through the early rounds. — They drew 2-2 with Bristol City before winning 2-0 in a replay. — They beat Swansea and Birmingham (2-1 each) to reach the quarter-finals, where Liverpool beat them 2-1. — Liverpool lost the final 1-0 to Burnley, the team Lincoln beat last weekend. — That final was the last held at the Crystal Palace, which had been its venue since 1895.

Mega mergers

Unilever rejected a £115 billion takeover offer from Kraft Heinz. What happened after huge mergers that did go through? —Vodafone paid £112 billion for German telecoms giant Mannesmann in 2000 but suffered hefty related losses. — RBS paid £49 billion for Dutch bank ABN Amro in 2007, leading to its emergency bailout by the government. — AOL paid $165 billion (then £82 billion) for Time Warner in 2000. It was a disaster and they demerged in 2009. — Kraft Heinz was itself merged less than two years ago. In July 2015 the combined company was worth $46 billion and its share price was $77. This week it was $96.

Raising questions

The government proposed letting companies use the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) instead of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) as a basis for rises in defined-benefit pension schemes. What would a pension starting at £10,000 a year be worth now?