UK firms faltering on the world stage

The gloomy data, coming on the day the collapse of Prudential's 24bn bid for AIA was confirmed, underlined the country's poor track record with foreign deals.

Spending on acquisitions abroad sunk to 200m in the first quarter of 2010 – a fifth of the 1bn which was seen in the previous three months and the lowest since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures began in 1987.

The figure was dwarfed by the takeovers of UK firms by overseas companies which hit 14.3bn – mainly accounted for by United States food giant Kraft's controversial swoop for Dairy Milk maker Cadbury.

The doomed AIA bid now looks like joining an inglorious roll-call of overseas failures by UK companies.

Other ill-fated deals which actually completed include Royal Bank of Scotland's acquisition of ABN Amro in consortium which pushed the bank into the hands of the taxpayer when financial crisis struck.

HSBC was also badly burned on its purchase of sub-prime lender Household in the United States – while Marks & Spencer's sold men's clothing chain Brooks Brothers in 2001 for a third of the takeover price.

UK firms spent 1bn on domestic acquisitions in the quarter with Barclays' 200m deal for Standard Life bank notable, the ONS figures showed.