Three years ago, Prudential, the UK insurance group, was expected to get as much as £1.6bn for Egg. Then came the internet banking business’s disastrous foray into France, a change in Prudential’s senior management and serious problems with Egg’s unsecured loans. On Monday, the sale of Egg to Citigroup yielded just more than a third of that original, wildly optimistic, valuation.

Nevertheless, the question is not whether Prudential has accepted too little – though with hindsight the quibbling over price during the earlier negotiations by Prudential’s previous management obviously appears ludicrous – but whether Citigroup is paying too much.