P.M. BRIEFING : Armstrong Soars on Takeover Bid

Shares of Armstrong World Industries Inc. soared today after a group controlled by Canada’s Belzberg family said it will try to acquire the Lancaster, Pa.-based maker of home furnishings.

Armstrong rose $3.875 to $47.375 a share and was the most heavily traded issue on the New York Stock Exchange after the Belzberg group said it had acquired a 9.85% interest.

“We have no interest in meeting with the Belzbergs,” Armstrong Chairman William W. Adams said in a strongly worded declaration that the company is not for sale. The incipient takeover battle quickly moved into the courts, with both companies filing lawsuits over, among other things, the validity of Armstrong’s “poison pill” shareholder rights plan, which is intended to prevent a hostile takeover.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Belzberg group said it intends to file for antitrust clearance to buy 50% or more of Armstrong stock.