TPG Telecom chief executive Iñaki Berroeta does not think much of the corporate adage “there is no such thing as a merger, only takeovers”. He sits up and looks a little perplexed, beamed in via Microsoft Teams from his home office because of Sydney’s lockdown, before waving the idea away.

“There are a lot of old sayings that are just old,” the Spanish-Australian businessman tells AFR Weekend with a stilted laugh.