He said few jobs would be lost in the merger.
In most mergers, people feel they shouldn't talk to the other side.
On 6 May 2009, the two companies decided to join together, in a merger.
Now they plan to work together in a merger of their businesses.
Such news would typically drive down the share price of a company involved in a merger.
Years from now, they may result in an actual merger.
The policy in most mergers is to choose the best person from either company for each job.
This was the third club to participate in the 1947 merger.
The company will also issue a new tracking stock of its own in the merger.
It was not known early today how many jobs might be eliminated in the merger.