And Now, a Word from Our Intergalactic Corporate Overlords

by Mike Selinker and Evan Davis
Answer: RAYTHEON

Each letter comes from a corporate logo that matches one of the business fields (listed in alphabetical order). Each such company has been acquired by another company. Taking the letter in the same position in the name of the current owning company (possibly after several acquisitions) gets MISSILE COMPANY THAT OWNED AMANA, which is RAYTHEON.

icon	acquiree	field	acquirer	new letter
Z	PIZZA HUT	fast food	YUM BRANDS	M
N	SCHWINN	bicycles	DOREL INDUSTRIES	I
Z	WIZARDS OF THE COAST	tabletop games	HASBRO	S
E	NAKED JUICE	drinks	PEPSICO	S
L	CALVIN KLEIN	fashion	PHILLIPS-VAN HEUSEN	I
A	MAXIS	video games	ELECTRONIC ARTS	L
V	CONVERSE	shoes	NIKE	E
X	PLAXO	internet services	COMCAST	C
A	WALDENBOOKS	bookstores	BORDERS GROUP	O
B	BLOOMINGDALE'S	department stores	MACY'S	M
N	WILSON	sporting goods	AMER SPORTS	P
M	AMERICAN TOURISTER	luggage	SAMSONITE	A
R	MERRILL LYNCH	investments	BANK OF AMERICA	N
U	COLUMBIA	movies	SONY	Y
E	EMI	recorded music	TERRA FIRMA	T
N	BOSENDORFER	musical instruments	YAMAHA	H
H	NORTHWEST AIRLINES	air travel	DELTA	A
H	HANNA-BARBERA	television shows	TIME WARNER	T
N	DOW JONES	financial publishing	NEWS CORP	O
M	COMPAQ	computers	HEWLETT-PACKARD	W
M	RAMADA	hotels	WYNDHAM	N
T	GILLETTE	hygiene products	PROCTER & GAMBLE	E
O	PENNZOIL	petroleum products	ROYAL DUTCH SHELL	D
U	JAGUAR	cars	TATA MOTORS	A
H	THOMPSON CENTER ARMS	guns	SMITH & WESSON	M
B	NABISCO	baked goods	KRAFT FOODS	A
L	UNIROYAL	tires	MICHELIN	N
J	LEARJET	aircraft	BOMBARDIER	A