[tomhoward]

The article doesn't go into the the substance of this topic, but I've learned a bit about the issue from talking to friends who work in government economic development roles here in Australia.

The balance they're trying to strike is between attracting foreign investment vs losing companies via foreign acquisition.

Foreign investment (along with export revenue) is great, as it creates jobs, grows ecosystems, increases demand for the currency, etc.

Foreign acquisition is not so great, as the jobs/expertise/ecosystems and export revenue are lost.

Of course, if the founders/early investors go on and invest their returns in new local companies, then that's a good thing, but is perhaps beyond the scope of what governments are able to measure (or generate PR from).

I have no strong opinions about how sensible this attitude from governments is; I just know that's how they think, at least in Australia, and probably in the UK too.