BURLINGTON <BUR> HEARING TO CONTINUE TOMORROW
U.S. District Court Judge Eugene
A. Gordon said he plans to issue a decision tomorrow on
Burlington Industries Inc's request for an injunction to stop
Samjens Acquisition Corp's takeover bid for the company.
    Wall Street sources have said the outcome of the case could
be pivotal in determining the winner in the fierce takeover
battle for Burlington, the largest u.s. textile maker.
    Gordon presided over six hours of argument today by lawyers
for Burlington and Samjens, a partnership formed by Dominion
Textile Inc and New York investor Asher Edelman.
    Hearings are scheduled to continue tomorrow. A preliminary
injunction would hold up Samjens 2.47 billion dlr offer until
the case is decided.
    Burlington had previously agreed to a 2.44 billion dlr
buyout from Morgan Stanley Group Inc <MS>, one dlr per share
lower than a sweetened 77 dlr per share bid made by Samjens
last week. Burlington has not responded to the new Samjens
offer.
    Burlington has alleged in its lawsuit that Edelman and
Dominion used illegally obtained confidential information about
the company in making their takeover attempt.
 
    That information, Burlington said, was provided by James
Ammeen, a former Burlington executive, through PaineWebber
Group Inc <PWJ>. Ammeen, who had worked for Burlington for 23
years, had as many as 12 divisions with 50 pct of Burlington's
sales reporting to him. When he left Burlington in November,
1985, Burlington said he signed a contract promising never to
divulge inside information about the company.
    Burlington lawyers said shortly after he left he began
working with a PaineWebber employee on a hostile plan to
"takeover the company, dismember the company and displace its
management," Burlington lawyer Hubert Humphrey said.
    Samjens lawyers acknowledged it received information from
PaineWebber, but argued the information was public information
and could be obtained either from texitle industry analysts or
Burlington's public financial statements.
    Burlington lawyers said PaineWebber and Ammeen met with
Edelman and Dominion in November and continued to meet with
them until a couple of days before Edelman and Dominion went
public April 24 with their intention to take over the company.
Burlington lawyers claim Dominion's board decided to attempt a
takeover of Burlington after Ammeen met with the board in
February.
    Burlington lawyers said Edelman and Dominion held
discussions with PaineWebber and Ammeen about acting as
financial advisers to Samjens. But they allege talks broke off
because Painewebber and Ammeen could not satisfy Edelman and
dominion with a written statement that they did not provide
inside information.
    Lawyers for Samjens contended that Painewebber and Ammeen
withdrew as potential advisers because Burlington chairman
Frank Greenberg had called a PaineWebber executive and
threatened legal action if PaineWebber got involved in an
effort to takeover Burlilgnton.
    "The ultimate question is not the price per share or the
profit, but rather the permissable standards of conduct for
those who would takeover an American company," said burlington
lawyer Humphrey.
    Burlington lawyers also contended that Burlington, as the
largest manufacturer of denim in the United States, would be in
violation of anti-trust laws if it acquired Dominion, Canada's
largest textile maker. Dominion has denim manufacturing plants
in Georgia, which would reduce competition in the denim market,
the lawyers said.
    Samjens' lawyers discounted the concern. They said the
market for denim is more fragmented than Burlington contends
and that Burlington has the ability to switch between light
weight and heavy weight denim production as demand and price
dictate.
    Samjens lawyers also pointed to a lawsuit filed by
Burlington in Canada, in which it said it was considering a bid
for Dominion. "Surely, what would have been sauce for the goose
would have been sauce for the gander," said Sidney Rosdeitcher,
a Samjens lawyer.
 Reuter
