In the space of less than five years Robert Campeau, a Canadian property developer, rose to become the owner of the largest tranche of retail assets in the USA. Campeau acquired an empire ‘worth’ US$8 b before the bulk of that empire fell into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In that time his dealings came to involve some of the most famous names in US retailing—and also Marks and Spencer plc of Britain. The mechanisms by which funding was put together in order to finance the Campeau takeovers exemplify the functioning of the arbitrage economy.
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