The competition commissioner, Mario Monti, said the first phase of the investigation determined that the proposed acquisition "poses serious concerns that justify today's decision to start a full investigation."

The identification and acquisition of grey literature poses difficulties for librarians and other information professionals for several reasons.

Stupid's acquisition posed no problem at all.

"The proposed acquisition poses a significant threat to competition in the free-cutting brass rod market," said Charles F. Rule, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the antitrust division.

Iron acquisition poses a problem for aerobic organisms, because ferric iron is poorly soluble near neutral pH.

The foreign acquisition of military contracting companies has posed a conflict for the Reagan Administration and Congressional conservatives.

"The acquisition does not pose any national-security risk," a lawyer for the two companies, Jeffrey P. Bialos, said of its purchase for $16 million from a British company, De La Rue.

The acquisition will pose a challenge to the city-state agency, which needs to make the island self-sustaining.

Mr. Brodwin said the acquisition probably posed great hazards for independent booksellers, who had subscribed to the unwritten rule that "people in the distribution channel don't compete with their customers, their retailers."

Those acquisitions pose potentially more problems since Expedia and Hotels.com are direct competitors that have been operated separately, even though they are both under USA's control.