Stevens Bidding Escalates Past $1-Billion Mark

Bidding for textile giant J. P. Stevens & Co. escalated past the $1-billion mark on Monday, as Stevens’s competitor West Point-Pepperell Inc. and investment firm Odyssey Partners both sweetened their competing offers.

Odyssey raised its bid to $1.22 billion late Monday from its earlier offer of $990 million. Earlier in the day, West Point had announced a $1.19-billion bid.

The new offers had been expected by Wall Street, where Stevens shares closed at $66.50, up 50 cents.

The West Point offer, disclosed by its affiliate in the takeover battle, Magnolia Partners, works out to $67 a share, up from the $62.50 it offered earlier.

Odyssey’s raise to $68.50 per share late in the day topped the West Point bid and its own earlier offer of $64.

A West Point-Stevens merger would create a giant textile concern with $3.3 billion in sales. West Point had $1.7 billion in sales in 1987 and Stevens had $1.6 billion.