INSTINET <INET> SETS MEETING ON MERGER Instinet Corp said its board has scheduled a special shareholders' meeting for May 21 to vote on its proposed merger into Reuters Holdings PLC <RTRSY>. It said shareholders of record as of April 10 will be eligible to vote at the meeting. Instinet said the meeting date is subject to adjustment, based on the length of time needed for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to complete its review of the filing of merger proxy materials, which Instinet expects to make before the end of March. Instinet said the filing of the preliminary merger proxy materials is tied to the finalization of audited financial statements of Instinet and Reuters for 1986. Under a merger agreement entered into in November, Reuters tendered for up to 5.10 mln Instinet common shares, or about 45 pct of those not already owned by Reuters. As a result of the tender, Reuters now owns about 49 pct of Instinet shares. In the merger, holders of remaining Instinet shares will receive 8.50 dlrs of Reuters American Depositary Shares for each Instinet share. The ADS's will be valued at the average of their closing prices in the 10 trading days before the effective date of the merger. Instinet said it expects the merger to become effective as soon as possible after shareholder approval at the special meeting.