There are five suits, one of which is always the trump suit, and the kicker is that you have to bid separately for each suit, by taking tokens with the suits on them.

While both MCA Records and Boston Ventures are bidding separately, people familiar with the negotiations say that the two could come up with a joint deal between them.

He secretly worked out that they fitted together and then successfully bid for them separately.

After studios Sony Pictures and Lionsgate bid separately from 3 PM to 8 PM, Pacificor, the hedge fund that pushed Halcyon into bankruptcy, made a deal for $29.5 million.

Officials at the two companies gave few details other than to say they would share leads for new business and explore avenues to work together on the kind of major automation projects for which they previously bid separately.

"Each one of the other networks got a call from our Business Affairs Office, notifying them that we intended to bid separately," said Ted Harbert, president of ABC Entertainment.

Providence specializes in telecommunications and media assets, and the company and Carlyle are also bidding separately for Ono, Auna's cable business.

And Brown-Forman, which joined with Bacardi to bid for the Seagram assets but bid separately for the rights to distribute Absolut in the United States, is no longer involved in negotiations, they said.

Structures such as locks were bid separately from work on the canal itself and included a feeder dam on Wiconisco Creek at Millersburg and three aqueducts.

Several other private equity firms, including Thomas H. Lee Partners, the Texas Pacific Group, Spectrum Equity Partners, and Madison Dearborn Partners may also bid either jointly or separately.