KPN on Wednesday announced a €1bn acquisition – of its own shares. For Ad Scheepbouwer, the Dutch telecoms group’s chief executive, share buybacks are good merger and acquisition business. They bring value to shareholders, generally enhance earnings and, in the current telecoms market, Mr Scheepbouwer clearly believes it is the best use of his cash.

He has been on the lookout for straightforward acquisitions in the past few years and would certainly seize an opportunity if it made good business sense.