Maxwell Bids for Macmillan

British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell has proposed buying Macmillan Inc. for $80 a share, valuing the U.S. textbook publishing company at around $2.06 billion, Macmillan said today.

The proposal is higher than a $75-a-share, or about $1.9-billion, tender offer made by the Robert M. Bass group, which has been waging a long campaign to overcome the resistance of Macmillan management to a takeover.