Fewer than one tenth of European mergers and acquisitions in the past three years, and just 3% of those involving UK companies, have fulfilled the objectives that drove them, according to a new study by Hay Group, the global consultancy.

Canvassing more than 200 M&A deals in total over the past three years, the report found that just 28% of business leaders believed their merger created "significant new value", while 91% of European deals failed to deliver fully on their initially stated objectives.