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SIGNATURE FREDERICK W. GREEN
TITLE PRESIDENT
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<NAME> THE MERGER FUND
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[letter head of Price Waterhouse LLP]
To the Board of Trustees of The Merger Fund
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of The Merger Fund (the "Fund") for the year ended November 30,
1995, we considered its internal control structure, including
procedures for safeguarding securities, in order to determine
our auditing procedures for the purposes of expressing our
opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the
requirements of Form N-SAR, and not to provide assurance on the
internal control structure.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and
maintaining an internal control structure. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are
required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
internal control structure policies and procedures. Two of the
objectives of an internal control structure are to provide
management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that
assets are appropriately safeguarded against loss from
unauthorized use or disposition and that transactions are
executed in accordance with management's authorization and
recorded properly to permit preparation of financial statements
in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control
structure, errors or irregularities may occur and may not be
detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of the structure
to future periods is subject to the risk that it may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not
necessarily disclose all matters in the internal control
structure that might be material weaknesses under standards
established by the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which the
design or operation of the specific internal control structure
elements does not reduce to a relatively low level the risk that
errors or irregularities in amounts that would be material in
relation to the financial statements being audited may occur and
not be detected within a timely period by employees in the
normal course of performing their assigned functions. However,
we noted no matters involving the internal control structure,
including procedures for safeguarding securities, that we
consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of
November 30, 1995.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
/s/ Price Waterhouse LLP
PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
January 11, 1996
EXHIBIT TO N-SAR
SUB-ITEM 77K: CHANGES IN REGISTRANT CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT
EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 31, 1995, GRANT THORNTON, L.L.P. WAS
TERMINATED AS THE FUND'S INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS. FOR THE YEARS
ENDED NOVEMBER 30, 1991 THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 1994, GRANT
THORNTON L.L.P. EXPRESSED AN UNQUALIFIED OPINION ON THE FUND'S
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. THERE WERE NO DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN FUND
MANAGEMENT AND GRANT THORNTON L.L.P. PRIOR TO THEIR TERMINATION.
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVED THE TERMINATION OF GRANT
THORNTON L.L.P. AND THE APPOINTMENT OF PRICE WATERHOUSE L.L.P.
AS THE FUND'S INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS.
EXHIBIT TO N-SAR
SUB-ITEM 77K: CHANGES IN REGISTRANT CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT
NOVEMBER 1, 1995
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
ATTN: SECPS/MAIL STOP 9-5
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
RE: 2-776969
811-3445
WE have read THE MERGER FUND statement regarding our termination
as their independent auditors included at the end of the "NOTES
to tHE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS" on Page 17 and agree with the
information contained therein.
Very truly yours,
GRANT THORNTON LLP
