Contested corporate takeovers, beloved of speculators, shareholders in the target company and journalists, have virtually disappeared since the onset of the credit crisis. For a target of any size, unless the acquirer is extraordinarily cash rich, a covenant-lite bank line or ready buyer of securities is necessary. Those are thin on the ground these days.

That means when contests over corporate control resume in the US, the outcomes will not be decided by relative willingness or ability to raise more debt. Instead, we are going to have more, and bigger, proxy fights.