But everybody knows that pooling-of-interest accounting, which tends to inflate reported earnings after a merger, helped encourage the conglomerate craze of the late Sixties, and that changing those rules made conglomeration much less attractive.

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Pittman, who is perhaps best known for his prominent role in the AOL- Time Warner merger, has been with the radio conglomerate since last November as its chairman of media and entertainment platforms.

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Mr Gent is reported to have offered embattled German conglomerate Mannesmann a 49.9% stake in the combined company if it drops its opposition to the merger.

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