NEW YORK Investor raises his bid for bankrupt Burlington

The bankrupt company has gone from 149 plants to 10.
DOW JONES NEWS SERVICE
NEW YORK -- Investor Wilbur Ross Jr. is increasing his bid for bankrupt textile manufacturer Burlington Industries, offering $620.1 million on the opening day of an auction for the company.
Ross' New York firm, WL Ross & amp; Co. LLC, added the extra $12.1 million Monday. Ross recently has been buying distressed steelmakers through his company, International Steel Group.
Subsequent bidders were required to top Ross' offer -- designated the preferred bid by the company -- by at least $3 million and to pay Ross a breakup fee of 1 percent of the purchase price.
Burlington will submit the revised agreement to the bankruptcy court for approval Thursday.
Burlington said July 25 that the earlier W.L. Ross bid was the highest it had received. It is pursuing an auction after a planned $579 million acquisition by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. fell through in February.
What was included
The new purchase price includes $614 million in cash and a $6.1 million credit to enhance the agreement's breakup fee.
Bankruptcy Judge Randall Newsome ordered Burlington to be sold at auction in March. Buffett had bid to buy the company for $579 million, but walked away when a judge rejected a breakup fee if the deal fell through.
Buffett's office in Omaha, Neb., declined to comment Monday on whether Buffett was bidding for Burlington.
Burlington, which makes denim, carpet and other textiles, once employed more than 80,000 people in 149 plants, and its stock traded at more than $80 a share. The company now has about 7,600 workers at 10 plants, including six in North Carolina.
Burlington filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors in November 2001, with $1.1 billion in debt. Since then, the company has laid off thousands of workers, closed plants and sold unprofitable businesses.
Burlington estimates 41.5 percent of unsecured claims and secured creditors will be repaid under the new purchase price. The company's Lees carpet business would be sold separately to carpet maker Mohawk Industries Inc.