New European giants? Standard-Aberdeen looks a better bet than Peugeot-Vauxhall

Budget week also turned out to be a week of notable deals. PSA, French owner of Peugeot and Citroën, went ahead with its €2.2 billion takeover of Vauxhall and Opel from General Motors, creating ‘a new European giant to challenge Volkswagen’, according to the spin, and new fears for those who foresee post-Brexit attrition of the British motor industry. By way of reassurance, PSA boss Carlos Tavares said a hard Brexit is an ‘opportunity’ — to beef up the domestic supply chain while reducing component imports from the EU — and that ‘I trust Vauxhall workers’ to improve their productivity. That last bit sounded to me more like a threat to their jobs.

Then came the agreed merger of Aberdeen Asset Management and Edinburgh-based Standard Life to create what really will be a European giant of the investment sector, with £660 billion under management. Chaired by wily Whitehall veteran Sir Gerry Grimstone, Standard Life has moved a long way from its 19th-century origins but steered a steady course since its 2006 demutual-isation.