New $3.4-Billion Bid for British Electronics Giant

General Electric Co. of Britain and Siemens AG of West Germany on Thursday made a fresh $3.4-billion bid for Plessey PLC and quickly boosted their stake in the British electronics company to 29.9%.

GEC is not related to the similarly named U.S. company.

Sources said the joint bidders spent $495 million snapping up Plessey stock, bringing their holdings to the maximum allowed under British takeover rules.

Plessey rapidly rejected the offer as “totally inadequate,” saying the electronics giants had made “a major price miscalculation.”

Analysts conceded that the price was at the low end of Plessey’s recent trading range but noted that the joint bidders were likely to be successful.

The $4.46-a-share offer came one day after the British government announced an agreement with the bidders on conditions for renewing their bid for Plessey.

The new offer replaced the original $2.8-billion bid that GEC and Siemens launched in November. That bid automatically lapsed in January when the government decided to investigate what impact such a combination would have on competition within Britain’s electronics industry.