(FORTUNE Magazine) – Merger fever shows few signs of abating in 1997; in the first three weeks of January alone, a cool $46.5 billion of deals were announced, including Raytheon's purchase of GM's Hughes division. Herewith our predictions about which companies could eat and be eaten this year.

Health care. Most of the deals in this sector will be smaller plays, as HMOs and pharmaceuticals companies continue to swallow up bite-size companies. Still, there are a few potential blockbusters. The biggest target: Warner-Lambert, which has plenty of enviable assets, including Listerine and Sudafed. Possible suitors include Pfizer, which already has strategic alliances with Warner.

Utilities. Deregulation has brought down the barriers between gas and electric companies, and now they're mating like hamsters. The gains in customer bases and efficiency, combined with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's streamlining of the merger approval process, should keep the deals coming. Two single guys: Idaho Power and Montana Power.

Defense. Now that everyone's been bought up, who's left? Northrop Grumman, that's who. Northrop, weighted down in last year's acquisition binge by a heavy debt load, is looking more like prey than a hunter. Lockheed's the name most bandied about as a purchaser.

Media. Lots of deals here, though most of them will be pintsize, generated mainly by the loosening of ownership restrictions on TV and radio stations. The big deals will be in cable, where programmers like Family Channel may be snapped up by big guns--most likely John Malone's Liberty Media. And Metromedia's John Kluge may shed his entertainment operations--which include the world's fourth-largest film library.

Finance. The recent purchase of credit card issuer First USA by Banc One seems likely to spur a round of credit card-related mergers. First Chicago NBD, which has a huge and undervalued credit card unit, is one possible takeover candidate. Another widely rumored target is American Express. Wall Street views Citicorp and Travelers as logical suitors.

--Tim Carvell and Ani Hadjian