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Holders Consider Proposal to Take Bibb Co. Private

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Associated Press

Stockholders of Bibb Co. will vote Sept. 23 whether to accept a $25-per-share leveraged buy-out offer from National Textile Co.

According to a proxy statement mailed this week to Bibb Co.’s 2,500 stockholders, National Textile hopes to purchase the Macon-based Bibb Co. and convert the publicly held company into a privately held firm.

Leveraged buy-outs are typically financed with borrowed funds to be repaid from future earnings or sale of assets.

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Bibb officials said the company has 1.8 million outstanding shares, which would make the transaction worth about $45 million.

Bibb employs 4,200 at 13 plants in Georgia.

The proxy statement said that Bibb, which reduced its staff by 1,000 during the past year, has actively sought a buyer for the last two years. The statement also said the company would need to spend $35 million over the next three to five years to modernize its plants.

Robinson-Humphrey Co., a stock brokerage firm retained by Bibb, called National’s $25-per-share offer fair “from a financial point of view.”

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But Fidelity International Ltd., an 11.6% owner of Bibb’s stock, charged that National plans to sell the company’s assets piecemeal if the proposed deal takes place.

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