Impala the ace in the pack, as EMI and Warner mull merger options.

As Edgar Bronfman and Eric Nicoli put on their best poker faces to play another round of deal or no deal, it turns out Impala holds the ace.

And that ace could complete a winning hand. The cards that could pave the way for a merger between the two majors after seven years of attempts and - with the EC expected to push the Sony/BMG deal into a phase II examination this week - no success.

And if Warner can engineer an acquisition of EMI, it will also prove to be the second time Bronfman has got the better of Nicoli - after stealing Warner from under the UK major's nose in 2003.

Bronfman, it seems, is the first major boss who has realised the European indie group may hold the balance of power at the EC competition office, headed by commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Impala's surprise victory in reversing the Sony/BMG merger at the Court of First Instance last summer will have cemented that view and persuaded Bronfman to approach Impala to see if they could broker a deal.

It is understood that Impala president Patrick Zelnik started talking seriously to Bronfman in December. Zelnik himself is surprised that it has taken this long for one of the majors to realise Impala may hold the key to power and approach them. Until now, the majors have acted with complete indifference to the indie community and attempted to railroad their merger deals through before coming unstuck in the competition minefield. "We've been consistently saying `we want remedies'. But they don't come," he explains.

Insiders suggest that Impala may have also spoken to EMI; indeed Impala chairman Martin Mills accepts that there are "always conversations between everyone". EMI would not comment.