Half of the UK’s senior corporate executives are in favour of overhauling rules governing public takeovers, placing large swathes of corporate Britain at odds with top bankers as the Takeover Panel undertakes its most comprehensive review of the framework for mergers and acquisitions in more than 20 years.

DC Advisory Partners - formerly Close Brothers Corporate Finance - interviewed chief executives, chairmen and other senior executives at 100 UK companies with a combined annual turnover of more than £290bn (€351.4bn), including several in the FTSE 100.