Bergen Brunswig Takeover Offer Faces Scrutiny : Merger: Three state attorneys general will investigate whether proposal to buy Alabama competitor violates antitrust laws.

Bergen Brunswig Corp., which is expected to extend its $365-million offer to purchase an Alabama competitor, said Thursday that three state attorneys general have asked it to turn over copies of the takeover proposal so that potential antitrust problems can be determined.

Bergen Brunswig’s original merger proposal is set to expire at 3 p.m. today, Vice President Jack Fay said.

But the company, which this week failed in its attempt to block the merger of Montgomery-based Durr-Fillauer Medical Inc. and Cardinal Distribution Inc. of Dublin, Ohio, still hopes to find a legal way to acquire Durr-Fillauer.

“We are taking it one day at a time,” said Fay when asked what new strategies the Orange-based drug wholesaler plans in the near future. “But the probability is that we will extend the offer.”

Fay did not say how long the company plans to extend the proposal.

Bergen Brunswig criticized Durr-Fillauer for not considering its bid and sought unsuccessfully to gain a restraining order that would have stalled the Cardinal merger and forced Durr-Fillauer to take the bid to its shareholders.

Fay declined to say whether Bergen Brunswig will sweeten its bid to counter Cardinal’s $30-a-share offer, as some analysts have speculated.

Bergen Brunswig made its offer to buy Durr-Fillauer in early July after Durr-Fillauer announced that it had reached an agreement to merge with Cardinal.

The two companies, which would constitute a $2.1-billion competitor to Bergen Brunswig in the South and the Midwest, have resisted Bergen Brunswig’s takeover attempts.

Durr-Fillauer has tentatively set Sept. 16 as the date for a special meeting of shareholders to vote on the proposed merger with Cardinal.

Fay said Bergen Brunswig expects to return to the Delaware Court of Chancery on Sept. 3 to attempt a new legal challenge to the merger, even though a Delaware judge ruled Monday that Bergen Brunswig has no right to review the merger agreement.

In a related development, the attorneys general for Alabama, Louisiana and Florida have ordered Bergen Brunswig to provide documents outlining its offer to Durr-Fillauer so that they can judge whether the takeover proposal violates antitrust laws.

The documents requested by the three states are identical to documents already submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, Fay said. He said the company will comply with the states’ request within a week.

When asked who initiated the order by the three attorneys general, Fay said simply, “a citizen.” He added that it is unlikely state officials would demand those documents without an initiating petition from someone.

Durr-Fillauer and Cardinal officials were unavailable for comment Thursday. There was no indication that their merger agreement faces any antitrust problems.