Edelman Bids Up to $2 Billion For Burlington

A group led by financier Asher B. Edelman and Montreal-based Dominion Textile Inc. said Friday that it has offered to acquire textile giant Burlington Industries in a deal valued between $1.7 billion and $2 billion.

Edelman, reached by telephone at his New York office, said the group has already bought about 7.6% of the outstanding common shares of the Greensboro, N.C.-based company, and has told Burlington’s board that it is willing to pay $60 a share for the remainder it needs to complete the transaction.

Burlington is one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of textiles and related products. On the New York Stock Exchange Friday, its stock closed at $56.25 a share, up $1.875 from Thursday.

Asked in Greensboro about the reported offer late Friday, Dick Windham, Burlington’s director of public relations, said: “I know nothing about it.”

Edelman declined to outline details of the plan his group proposed to Burlington’s board, nor would he characterize the board’s reaction to the proposal.

He read a press release saying that completion of any transaction would be subject to negotiation of a definitive agreement, and financing, among other things.

But he would not say how the group intends to raise the money it would need to complete the deal.