31.   He may also acquire new parks to expand the presence of Six Flags in big metropolitan areas.

32.   HSBC officials have said in the past the banking group wants to expand its presence in the U.S. to balance its concentration of assets in Europe and the U.K.

33.   It also intends to expand its presence in non-Japanese markets, where its performance in personal computers has not been very strong.

34.   Journal Register has made an aggressive play in the last year to expand its presence in the newspaper industry.

35.   Last year, the brewer of Newcastle Brown Ale acquired Kronenbourg beer, in an effort to expand its presence in Continental Europe.

36.   Later this year, Lauder will be expanding its presence in neighboring Kazakhstan.

37.   Like all investment banks, First Boston has sought to expand its presence in Latin America, Hester said.

38.   Mobil, Shell and Texaco have all been expanding their presence in Venezuela in recent years as the government has relaxed restrictions on exploring and developing oil fields.

39.   Merrill Lynch recently expanded its presence in Asia by buying some assets of a big Japanese investment house.

40.   National giants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are aggressively expanding their presence in the Northeast, a market already overcrowded with too many stores.