81.   Executives close to the talks said that US West realized that Deutsche Telekom was not prepared to match that figure.

82.   Executives close to Time Warner said that U S West was using the deal to force Time Warner to give it a controlling stake in the cable division.

83.   Executives close to Time Warner said the agreement allowed Time Warner to acquire any assets outside of its U S West partnership, which is called Time Warner Entertainment.

84.   Executives close to Vodafone said the company was already lining up potential bidders who would not represent a strategic threat if they were to buy Orange.

85.   General Electric has made an offer to buy Honeywell International, executives close to the talks said Friday, scuttling a bid by United Technologies Corp..

86.   In addition, Microsoft and Electronic Arts, a leading game software maker, have also held talks with Sega, executives close to those discussions said.

87.   In addition, other companies, including BMG-Universal and Deutsche Telekom,expressed interest in CDnow, executives close to the negotiations said.

88.   In the expected succession, several executives close to Smith would simply move up the ladder.

89.   Indeed, executives close to China Unicom seemed mildly disappointed that the first-day gain here did not match that in New York.

90.   McAllister of Asarco, who only became chief executive last spring, never planned for his company to become a target, executives close to him said.