Merrill has learned through experience how costly foreign acquisitions can be.

The resulting profits financed costly acquisitions and management mistakes.

The patched-together product of several costly acquisitions, Shearson in 1990 required an injection of $750 million from its corporate parent.

Standard & Poor's said yesterday that it had put the company's debt on review for a possible downgrade, citing management miscues and costly acquisitions.

General Electric's costly acquisition of RCA, for example, resulted in less research for both.

The performance of Global, the unit that provides voice, data and Internet services to businesses, explains the concern over efforts to expand the operation through costly acquisitions.

"They are interested in paying down debt, as it was a costly acquisition," he added.

Investor enthusiasm was evident in Disney's stock price, which did not decline on news of the costly acquisition.

The Yankees defended the costly acquisition by saying they have to pay only half of Mondesi's $11 million salary this season.

The money received would be used in part to acquire other assets that would make it a more costly acquisition.