21.   Mergers often mean poorer service and higher prices for bank customers, according to consumer advocates and congressional critics.

22.   Mergers invariably mean some projects will be shelved.

23.   Mergers often mean layoffs.

24.   Most of the hourly workers are hopeful the merger will mean a wage increase.

25.   Nicholas Cunningham at BZW notes that the merger will also mean more intense competition for European defense companies in export markets.

26.   She said her team is aware that a successful merger means making decisions crisply and quickly.

27.   Telecommunications industry analysts have said that the German-Italian merger probably meant the end of Global One.

28.   Still, analysts and banking industry leaders in Latin America wonder whether the merger will mean a diminished role for BankBoston in Latin America.

29.   The historic merger means consolidation and layoffs for two banks which have already undergone huge layoffs in an effort to trim costs.

30.   The merger means the end of McDonnell Douglas, a company that once dominated the commercial aircraft market and is still the leading maker of military aircraft.