Shares of companies that spent freely on takeovers, such as Vodafone Group, Europe's largest mobile-phone services company, already plunged in the past two years as investors became wary they overpaid. Vodafone, which spent more than US$200 billion since 1999, has lost 64 percent of its value from 24 months ago.
Weeding out the balance sheet has been prompted in part by changes in the bankruptcy of US energy trader Enron Corp, the largest ever in the US.
"Following what happened to Enron, people are more focused on real valuations and goodwill is a doubtful dubious asset," said David Chapman, who helps manage US$700 million at Towry Law Asia Ltd in Hong Kong. "People are just very, very worried about the situation at the moment, so some companies are responding with a more realistic look at things."
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