1.   Now, he said, most acquisitive companies would still prefer to do friendly transactions.

2.   Some companies prefer that their top executives have specialized backgrounds and hire individuals who are managers in other organizations.

3.   The company prefers the overlay option because it provides more flexibility, a spokesman argued.

4.   Companies invariably prefer to time their rights issues to coincide with the annual results and hopefully float the issue on a tide of good news.

5.   Although pooling deals have drawbacks, many companies have preferred them because they could avoid goodwill charges.

6.   Although they resemble Tupperware or Mary Kay Cosmetics sales demonstrations, the company prefers to compare these crop-till-you drop sessions to old-fashioned quilting bees.

7.   Analysts said the company would have preferred to dispose of the manufacturing business as well.

8.   And even where government policies are ostensibly neutral, companies often prefer to buy from local suppliers.

9.   And insurance companies prefer moving patients on regular commercial aircraft.

10.   And larger companies prefer buying from Bay because it supplies a full range of networking products, including high-end devices, unlike Intel.