THE DEAL            Repsol is offering $13.4 billion for the
                    85% it doesn't own of YPF--the biggest
                    foreign move on a Latin oil company

THE COMPANY         If successful, the deal would create the
                    world's eighth-largest publicly traded
                    oil company, with a $26.6 billion market
                    cap and reserves of 4.1 billion barrels

THE CONSEQUENCES    The deal could open the way for the sale
                    of other former state giants once
                    considered off-limits to foreigners in
                    oil and mining


DATA: BUSINESS WEEK