TAKEOVERS: Another Stab At Gillette

Some people just cannot seem to take no for an answer. For the third time in less than a year, Ronald Perelman, chairman of the Revlon Group, is reviving his efforts to take over Gillette. Last week Perelman offered $5.4 billion in cash and securities for the Boston-based razor-blade concern. That is nearly $800 million more than his last bid, in June, which the company rejected as inadequate.

Perelman’s pursuit of Gillette is particularly brash for legal reasons. Last November the tycoon signed a ten-year agreement in which he promised not to seek control of Gillette without prior consent of the company’s board. Perelman says he has sought such approval in a letter to Gillette’s directors. But the target company immediately criticized the letter as “strident.”