Marconi

Here again is an example of badly managed aggressive investments to buoy a share price increase. Even without the downturn in 2000, the final peak in late 2000 reflects a rate of increase too steep from mid 1999. Its aggressive acquisition and expansion policy put it into debt and instead of reducing debt, at the cost of a slowed share price rate of increase, managers invested further. Early in 2000 would have been the right time to manage debt and stabilise the company.

 
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1574000/1574143.stm)

The company initiated a large acquisitions in the telecommunications sector between 1999 and 2000 , ($2.1 billion (US) for American telecommunications firm Reltec in March 1999, and $4.5 billion (US) for enterprise networking company Fore Systems the following month). At the same time, Marconi was quickly divesting itself of its last connections to its old business focus, including selling BAE Systems, a manufacturing firm that produced electronic and defense equipment.