1.   Both Merrill and Mercury hope that their combined firm will have better international balance than either does by itself.

2.   Consequently, Gonye said, the combined firm would be vulnerable to a downturn in the securities markets.

3.   Eric Fast and William Mills will join Eduardo Mestre, a vice chairman of the combined firm and global head of its investment bank, on investment banking.

4.   Larson will be chairman and CEO of the combined firm.

5.   Less than three years later, Gutfreund sold the partnership to the commodities firm Philipp Brothers and quickly came to dominate the combined firm.

6.   Mary Cranston, the chairwoman of Pillsbury, would be chairwoman of the combined firm.

7.   Moore will serve as chairman of the combined firm, while Schiro will be the new chief executive.

8.   Now the company is faced with the prospect of doing business with Coopers again through the combined firm.

9.   Officially, the combined firms will hang their new collective hat in New York.

10.   Rather, he predicted the combined firm would expand.