The three are also discussing giving Novation L.L.C., a bulk purchaser of medical supplies, a stake in the merged company in exchange for Novation's agreeing to conduct a certain amount of business through the combined entity.
Today, we act as a bulk purchaser for about 70 low-income countries, delivering 40 per cent of the demand for global vaccines in the poorest countries.
G.E. has made additional arrangements with some bulk purchasers of its dishwashers.
The worst-off sometimes get the worst deal because bulk purchasers can negotiate discounts.
Many of them pay full retail prices because they do not get the large discounts offered to health maintenance organizations, hospitals and other bulk purchasers of prescription drugs.
"The lenders did not want to take the hit that the bulk purchasers were offering," said Martin A. Schwartz, a partner at Bilzin Sumberg, a Miami law firm that represents developers.
So although I have long suspected that the lucky bulk purchasers who swagger into "To the Trade Only" wholesalers and flash their resale tax numbers have been able to walk out with the sort of wastebaskets that are practical enough to please a professional janitor, small-time shoppers have become the victims of unfortunate trends in garbage disposal.
As the strains on state, federal and corporate budgets grow heavier in the next year or two, these bulk purchasers will want to shift even more of the cost of branded drugs on to the shoulders of consumers or simply discourage their use altogether by promoting cheap generic alternatives.
But large bulk purchasers, such as Home Depot or Wal-Mart, are also squeezing the shipping companies to keep the overall bill down.On balance, higher shipping costs are "not as big a factor" as the rising yuan or cost of raw materials, says an executive in the Shanghai office of an American building-materials company which exports Chinese-made goods to America, India and Australia.
At the center of this trade is a crucial layer of middlemen: bulk purchasers who buy devices from thieves and con artists before exporting them to customers around the world.
Workplaces, local governments, and other potential beneficiaries of kernels might well become bulk purchasers or distributors of kernels that they calculate will affect health, safety, competitiveness, or other important outcomes.
