BP Amoco Offers New Arco Takeover Plan

BP Amoco’s chief executive presented a new offer to win U.S. approval of the company’s $35-billion buyout of Atlantic Richfield Co., people familiar with the talks said. The move prompted the Federal Trade Commission to postpone until Monday a vote on whether to challenge the merger, the sources said. John Browne, chief executive of London-based BP Amoco, met with FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky and other members of the five-member commission and staff lawyers to present the latest proposal, the sources said. Neither the companies nor the FTC would comment on the developments. The FTC had planned to meet in closed session today in Washington to consider its staff recommendation that it go to court to block the transaction. The FTC reportedly has demanded that BP Amoco sell all of Los Angeles-based Arco’s Alaskan oil production as a condition of the merger. In New York Stock Exchange trading, BP Amoco shares fell 69 cents to close at $54.13, and Arco shares rose 25 cents to close at $76.38.