Episode

What Happens When Brands Change Hands?

Podcast
The Bottom Line
Published
Jan 29, 2026
Duration seconds
1998
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qj8k
Audio
http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss/proto/http/vpid/p0mxt1wx.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/the-bottom-line-1067438/episodes/what-happens-when-brands-change-hands
Markdown
/podcast/the-bottom-line-1067438/what-happens-when-brands-change-hands.md

Actions

  • POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-bottom-line-1067438/episodes/what-happens-when-brands-change-hands/transcription-requests
    Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
  • GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bottom-line-1067438/what-happens-when-brands-change-hands.md
    Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

From headline deals like Vodafone-Three or home builder, Barratt buying rival, Redrow, corporate mergers and takeovers are on the rise. Evan Davis and guests take a fresh look at what happens when companies combine. They discuss why deal-making is growing, why execs turn to M&A, what can go wrong and whether mergers deliver growth or simply disguise deeper problems. Guests: Vittorio Colao, CEO at Vodafone Group 2008-2018, and now Vice Chairman, EMEA, General Atlantic Pip Hulbert, CCO for International Markets at VML Farshid Azadegan, Director of BEC Distribution Production team: Presenter: Evan Davis Producer: Sally Abrahams Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound engineers: Russell Newlove and Andy Garratt Editor: Matt Willis The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University