21.   The paper said the merged group aims to be among world leaders in publishing and broadcasting including satellite and cable TV.

22.   The merged group will be called Avantis and will be based in Strasbourg, according to French and German newspaper reports.

23.   The merged group would have activities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

24.   The newly merged group has provisionally been dubbed Newco.

25.   The newly merged group was initially called BSKH.

26.   Trade Secretary Margaret Beckett held up the deal in August by ordering a full-scale probe after voicing concerns that the merged group might be impossible to regulate adequately.

27.   If the talks are successful, the merged group would inevitably be compelled to dispose of Mercury, to comply with British and European Union competition regulations.

28.   A merged group would create an emerging-markets powerhouse, with operations in nearly every corner of the world, analysts said.

29.   A merged group would account for three-quarters of German steel production.

30.   They said the merged group would create an emerging-markets powerhouse, with operations in nearly every corner of the world.