The two groups dueling for control of...

The two groups dueling for control of publishing group Macmillan Inc. have begun their competing tender offers that will allow the stockholders to decide the victor. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., the leveraged buyout firm that has gotten together with management on a $2.36-billion offer, said in newspaper advertisements that it had started its previously announced tender at $85 a share. The group is going ahead despite a hostile bid by British publisher Robert Maxwell, who said he would pay $86.80 a share, valuing the company at $2.41 billion.