Jim Armitage: Capricious Vestager’s new scalps leave chiefs scratching their heads

So, Margrethe Vestager, the grand Danish dame of Brussels, adds two more scalps to her list of bruised and battered corporates.

Apple, Google, Amazon, McDonald’s, Volvo, the telecoms industry, all have come to feel her wrath.

American chief executives have been keen to note that most of her assaults have been on US firms.

Today’s decision on Deutsche Börse and the LSE evens that out, but makes her organisation look more politicised than ever.

Since its inquiry into the tie-up launched months ago, no mention had been made of the Italian cash fixed-income market. Yet now, with the submissions by the companies already made, it jumps out of nowhere.

So, what happened? Did local politicians in Frankfurt, hating the idea of London being the combined headquarters, lean on Vestager to come up with a new stumbling block? Did Berlin get cold feet about post-Brexit London controlling European trading? Did other EU leaders decide the City needed a Brexit bloody nose? My guess is all of the above.

Deutsche Börse’s surprise that the LSE reacted so strongly to the new Brussels demand provokes more questions still: was the LSE already getting cold feet as patriotic voices against the merger started rising on this side of the Channel?

Was the Italian obstacle a convenient excuse to pull out? Is an alternative bid from a US exchange now looking more appealing in Paternoster Square?

Questions, questions. But one thing’s for sure, the commission’s baffling unpredictability has yet again left chief executives around the world scratching their heads. It’s bad for business, and yet more food for the Eurosceptics.