1. Shareholders seemed to have a final say in top management.

2. This news suggests bitter competition between computer giants.

3. Some people would take advantage of this period of time to make money.

4. The man would be detained on a foreign land for some time.

5. The buy-out seemed to benefit both companies.

6. The company hadn't entered into the American market before it was merged.

7. The change in personnel has boosted shareholders' confidence in the company.

A. In a deal valued at more than $ 5 billion, Crown Cork, a leading American packaging company with little presence in Europe, agreed to buy Camaud Metalbox of France, one of Europe's largest packagers with little presence in America. A frenzy of dealing sent shares in both soaring around 15%.

B. Another top French businessman was placed under investigation for corruption. The man is being questioned about a 1991 water-supply contract. Meanwhile, a German businessman, who went missing after his property empire collapsed last year, embarrassing the many banks that had backed him, was arrested in Miami. Extradition could take months.

C. Kmart, America's second-largest retailer, is to have a new boss to replace Joseph Antonini, who was forced to step down earlier this year by unhappy shareholders. Shares soared on the news that Floyd Hall, former chief executive of Target Stores, a rival discounter, is to step into Antonini's shoes.

D. IBM tried to counter the growth of Microsoft, the world's largest software firm, by launching a $3.3 billion hostile bid for Lotus Development, a software company. The $ 60-a –share offer boosted the price of Lotus shares by 89%. IBM sees Lotus's Notes software as a passport into the growing market for ‘groupware' programs that help networks of computers talk to each other.

E. The European Commission published a consultative paper on its promise single currency, in which it suggested that there would have to be four years between a final decision to launch the new currency and its arrival in citizens' pockets. It predicted that speculators would use the interval to make destabilising bets on the final conversion rates of the old currencies. But the commission is sticking to its deadline of January 1999 for economic and monetary union.