P.M. BRIEFING : Bass Takeover Group Says It Holds 5.9% of Avon Products

Robert M. Bass Group, the Texas takeover unit, said today that it and partners hold 5.9% of embattled Avon Products Inc., the cosmetics concern Wall Street suspects is in play once again.

Shares of Avon rose as much as $2.375 before falling back to $36.375, a gain of $1 in midday trading. Avon was one of the most heavily traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 500,000 shares changing hands.

Another investment group, Chartwell Partners, holds at least a 6.9% stake of Avon, and Wall Street speculators and analysts have predicted that Chartwell will make a bid for Avon.

The Bass group said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its stake is an investment, adding that it has had talks with Avon management. Bass said that the talks may continue and that they were about Avon’s recent operating history, business outlook and prospects.

Avon’s managers in the last week have publicly reaffirmed their desire to retain control.