1.   Among airlines, matching merger partners has also turned into something of a guessing game.

2.   Analysts said they think both Chevron and Texaco will continue to seek merger partners.

3.   Analysts think BellSouth may become another merger partner, but probably would not match up with another Baby Bell.

4.   Analysts said questions of who might succeed Mandel had not been resolved internally, creating the impetus to look for a merger partner.

5.   An applicant might come forward and not be successful in obtaining a loan, he explained, but could return with a merger partner and succeed.

6.   And the industry, now reduced to six major players from seven, is rife with rumors that at least two of them are actively shopping for merger partners.

7.   Apple has retained the investment bank Morgan Stanley to represent it in the talks with Sun and to gauge the interest of other potential merger partners.

8.   Apple Computer Inc. may rise, after the New York Times reported that the computer maker is seeking a friendly merger partner.

9.   As a reconstruction of the events of recent weeks now makes clear, Alcatel was by no means the only prospective merger partner that the company had courted.

10.   As U.S. economic growth dwindles, companies may continue to seek merger partners to provide an earnings boost where sales fail to grow.