1)X, was an American conglomerate formed in 1985 by the merger of A and B. X was purchased in 1988 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in the second largest leveraged buyout in history. This is surpassed only by the 2007 buyout of TXU, an energy company, valued at $45 billion, also led by KKR. In 1999, due to concerns about tobacco lawsuit liabilities, the tobacco business was spun off into a separate company, and X was renamed A. A is currently owned by Kraft Foods. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar published Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of X, a successful book about the events which was later turned into a television movie for HBO.

2)Z was founded in Bunnythorpe, New Zealand. Originally a baby food manufacturer processing local milk into an early baby food by the same name, which was sold in the 1930s under the slogan "Z builds bonny babies". Still visible on the main street of Bunnythorpe is a derelict dairy factory (factory for drying and processing cows' milk into powder) with the original Z logo clearly visible, but nothing to indicate that this was the start of a major multinational.In 1843, Thomas Y launched his Y's Pills laxative in England. Y opened its first factory in St Helens, Lancashire, England for rapid production of medicines in 1859.In 1830, John X opened its first pharmacy in Philadelphia.It changed its name to X ------ & French Laboratories to focus more on research in 1929.X, Y, Z after successive mergers formed a single entity in 2000.Id

3)X Inc. was an American oil company founded in 1875 as the ------- Oil and Transportation Company. Based in Ogden, Utah, the company was a coal, oil, kerosene, grease and candles distributor in the West. The main office was later moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, when on June 26, 1929, Marland Oil Company (founded by exploration pioneer E. W. Marland) acquired for a consideration of 2,317,266 shares of stock, the assets (subject to liabilities) of ------- Oil Company. At that time Marland Oil changed its name to Continental Oil Company. The acquisition gave X the red triangle symbol previously used by Marland and would become X's logo from 1930 to 1970 when the current capsule logo was adopted.The merger of X Inc. and the Y Petroleum Company on August 30, 2002 resulted in XY Company.

4)The New York Chemical Manufacturing Company was founded in 1823 as a maker of various chemicals. In 1824, the company amended its charter to perform banking activities and created the Chemical Bank of New York. After 1851, the bank was separated from its parent and grew organically and through a series of mergers, most notably with Corn Exchange Bank in 1954, Texas Commerce Bank (a large bank in Texas) in 1986, and Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company in 1991 (the first major bank merger "among equals"). At many points throughout this history, Chemical Bank was the largest bank in the United States.In 1996, the company acquired the Y --------- Corporation and took the Y name. In 2000, the company acquired X & Co. and changed its name to XY & Co. XY retains Chemical Bank's headquarters and stock history.Id XY.

5)In 1955 X Spinning merged with the Y Manufacturing Company which was founded in 1888 in New Bedford, Massachusetts by Horatio Y as a cotton milling business. Y was successful in its first decades, but it suffered during a general decline in the textile industry after World War I. At this time, Y was run by Seabury Stanton, whose investment efforts were rewarded with renewed profitability after the Depression. After the merger, XY had 15 plants employing over 12,000 workers with over $120 million in revenue and was headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts. However, seven of those locations were closed by the end of the decade, accompanied by large layoffs. In 1962, Z began buying stock in XY. After some clashes with the Stanton family, he bought up enough shares to change the management and soon controlled the company.

6)On May 2, 2007, X made an unsolicited takeover bid for Y, offering US$60 a share for stock that had been selling for US$33 a share. The Bancroft family, which controls more than 60% of the voting power, at first rejected the offer, but later reconsidered its position. Three months later, on August 1, 2007, X and Y entered into a definitive merger agreement. The controversial US$5 billion sale added Z to X's empire, which already included ------ Channel, the New York Post, and London's The Times. As of December 13, 2007, the Z is owned by X.

7)Samuel Lowell X, an accountant, started his practice in London in 1849. In 1865 X went into partnership with William Hopkins Holyland and Edwin Y. Holyland left shortly after to work alone in accountancy and the firm was known from 1874 as XY & Co. The original partnership agreement, signed by X, Holyland and Y can be found in Southwark Towers, one of XYZ's offices in London. In 1854 William Z established his own practice in London, which became Z Brothers seven years later when his three brothers joined. Z & Lybrand is the result of a merger in 1957 between Z Brothers & Co; Lybrand, Ross Bros & Montgomery and a Canadian firm McDonald, Currie and Co. In 1998 XY and Z & Lybrand merged to form XYZ in an attempt to gain a scale that would put the new firm in a different league.XYZ has three main service lines: Audit and Assurance,Tax, Advisory and Consulting.

8)Y was a German watchmaker and silversmith. He developed a method to charge water with carbon dioxide gas. He patented this method in 1740. In 1790, he founded a factory to produce soda in London. His sons expanded the business and it went on to become a big brand. In 1969 Y merged with a confectionery major X. In October 2007, XY announced a demerger and it's drinks brands would now be a part of Z. The demerger was confirmed and is expected to happen in May,2008. XY?