31.   KDD said the companies have discussed a merger but have reached no agreement.

32.   Just last week, San Paolo and INA announced that they were discussing a merger.

33.   Neither American Express nor ETrade would comment on whether they had discussed a merger.

34.   Nason said Grant Thornton and BDO Seidman have never discussed a merger.

35.   Nikkei yesterday said the presidents of the two banks would meet today to discuss the merger.

36.   Netscape and Dulles, Va.-based AOL yesterday confirmed reports that they are discussing a merger.

37.   Officials from Daiwa Bank Ltd. and Sumitomo Bank Ltd. denied the two banks were discussing a merger after Japanese press reports said they had delayed or frozen such talks.

38.   Over the past year, Equant has discussed mergers with many partners, including Global Crossing and Infonet.

39.   Recently, word leaked out that Fleet and BankBoston had discussed a merger of their own.

40.   Responding to huge spikes in its stock volume, insurer Unico American Corp. has said it is discussing a merger with another company.