31.   The merger gives it more routes in lucrative eastern markets and a prized asset, the shuttle route from Boston to New York to Washington.

32.   The merger will give Burlington Northern long-sought access to California, where it can more fully compete with old rival Union Pacific.

33.   The merger would give Healtheon access to more consumers.

34.   The merger would give the new consolidated cooperative additional capital to build more dairy processing plants, she said.

35.   The merger would give Wells Fargo access to a dozen other states besides California where First Interstate operates.

36.   The merger also would give the new cooperative the size needed to market dairy products internationally.

37.   The merger could give Atari some breathing room in its battle to survive the heated video game wars against Nintendo, Sega and Sony.

38.   The merger gives Canal Plus a stake in both competing decoder technologies--the SECA system promoted by Bertelsmann and the Irdeto system pushed by rival Kirch Group.

39.   The merger gives Williams, which has been building its telecommunications business, a broader customer base to which it can sell equipment and services.

40.   The merger may give a lift to shares of state-owned companies traded in Hong Kong.