In effect, most companies are underpaying their younger workers and overpaying their older ones.

The Warner executive countered that no company would overpay, even if it was an internal transaction.

And while analysts generally say the company overpaid for its Rockefeller Center holdings by a wide margin, it has made few such mistakes.

Many investors had worried that the British company would overpay for Biomet.

The report found that 15 companies that wrote policies for the association overpaid $428 million in accident claims, including inflated bills from automobile shops.

The rise reflected analysts' assessment that the company, part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, had not overpaid.

But I.B.M. needn't have started so high, and some critics now say that the company overpaid.

Some analysts say the company is overpaying for Guidant.

Unfortunately, the price was miscalculated and the company overpaid.

Some analysts worry that as the acquisition race heats up, some companies will overpay.