Pechiney's chairman, Jean-Pierre Rodier, said today that the company would not rule out any acquisition possibilities.

Yesterday Reuters news service said that Robert Holmes a Court, chairman of the Bell Group, an Australian holding company, believes that the world stock market slump now presents him with more acquisition possibilities.

He said that a merger with a domestic competitor "may be in our thinking at some point," although there are no plans now, and that the company would continue to scout for acquisition possibilities.

Mr. Oana said he had been offered 10 or more acquisition possibilities but that none satisfied him.

The company said on Thursday that it was exploring several acquisition possibilities, after Italian media reported that the company might buy the Winterthur unit.

Without such an appropriation, a host of environmental projects are in danger of failing, including some exciting acquisition possibilities in the Adirondack Park, farmland preservation initiatives, especially in Suffolk County and the Hudson Valley, urban reforestation programs in New York City and elsewhere, breast cancer research and county recycling programs.

At the same time, Mr. Piëch cast doubt on the most obvious acquisition possibility - the Swedish truck maker Scania, in which Volkswagen already owns 18 percent of the shares and 34 percent of the voting rights - saying that Scania shares are "very, very expensive."

The company has said that it would use the proceeds to "aggressively pursue acquisition possibilities."

Mr. McKeel said he would be looking at acquisition possibilities in various fields.

"We're continuing to explore a broad number of acquisition possibilities," Mr. Glazer said.