The other good news is that if any hostile bidder had been eyeing up the Times, they would be crazy to be still contemplating it.
The only regulatory risk posed to the deal is in how long it takes to get done, and time always favors the target in a hostile bid situation.
This should mean that there is no immediate repeat of the leveraged buy-out hostile bids of the 1980s, many of which were disastrous and gave the whole business of takeovers and mergers a bad name.
Since its rebuff by the government in February, Enel has been looking for a French partner with which to launch a hostile bid for Suez.
UK confectioner Cadbury will soon find out if it will be the target of a hostile bid by would-be US suitor Kraft Foods.
