J. P. Stevens & Co. accepted a...

J. P. Stevens & Co. accepted a sweetened $1.22-billion bid from New York-based investment group Odyssey Partners, rejecting for the second time rival sheet-maker West Point-Pepperell Inc. The Stevens board, which included a special committee of outside directors, recommended that shareholders tender their stock to Odyssey for $68.50 a share, instead of to Pepperell at $67 a share. The most recent bids were both sweetened ones that were made on Monday. Odyssey is expected to keep current management on board as the investment group tends to keep out of day-to-day management of companies in which it has an interest.