Like the premature obituary of writer Mark Twain, reports of the death of the conglomerate are often exaggerated. Diversified companies, straddling multiple industries or even just different parts of one large sector, remain a dominant, if not always fashionable, feature of stock markets from the US to continental Europe and Asia.

But a new backlash against conglomerates suggests a more lasting shift in investor preferences may be taking place – driven in part by the growing influence of hedge funds and private equity houses. In public markets, big has rarely appeared less beautiful.