Bergen Raises Bid for Rival

Bergen Brunswig Corp., aggressively trying to expand into the Southeast, raised the ante Tuesday in a bidding war for Durr-Fillauer Medical Inc. by offering to pay $396 million in cash for its Alabama competitor.

The offer to buy the Montgomery-based company for $33 a share--$7 a share above Bergen Brunswig’s previous bid--tops a $30.50-a-share bid from Cardinal Distribution Inc. in Dublin, Ohio.

Bergen Brunswig’s offer came as Durr-Fillauer directors decided to furnish Bergen Brunswig with details of its pending merger with Cardinal. Bergen Brunswig fought unsuccessfully in court for the last month to obtain those documents.

The Orange-based drug wholesaler has been trying to foil Cardinal’s merger efforts ever since that deal was announced in early July. Both suitors are anxious to tap into the lucrative drug market in the Southeast.

An acquisition of Durr-Fillauer would boost Bergen Brunswig’s annual revenue to nearly $6 billion a year from $5 billion. A combined company would also be a stronger competitor to industry leader McKesson Corp., a San Francisco-based company that posted $7.5 billion in revenue on its drug wholesale business.

Bergen Brunswig’s new proposal, replacing a $26-a-share offer, is softening the hostile atmosphere that Bergen Brunswig’s takeover attempt had fostered, analysts said. Until Tuesday, Durr-Fillauer had resisted all Bergen Brunswig overtures. At least, analysts said, Durr-Fillauer now is willing to listen.

“This has gone a long way to leveling the playing field,” said Steven Huffines, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach in Atlanta. “It went a long way to eliminate any hostile overtones.”