Within the context of an algebraic theory of processes, an equational specification of process cooperation is provided. Four cases are considered: free merge or interleaving, merging with communication, merging with mutual exclusion of tight regions, and synchronous process cooperation. The rewrite system behind the communication algebra is shown to be confluent and terminating (modulo its permutative reductions). Further, some relationships are shown to hold between the four concepts of merging. © 1984 Academic Press, Inc.