Morton’s weighing higher offer

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 | 11:39 a.m.

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. -- Morton's Restaurant Group Inc. said its board special committee and advisers are evaluating a sweetened $63 million buyout offer from Carl Icahn.

Icahn and his affiliated investors sent the company an amended agreement Tuesday that reflected the new price of $15 a share. The amended offer comes one day after Castle Harlan increased its own offer to buy out Morton's to $13.50 a share.

Both offers dropped an additional condition that required the steakhouse chain to reach a minimum earnings level.

Last week, BFMA Holdings Corp., a spurned suitor which owns 13.7 percent of Morton's, sued to halt the company's pending buyout.

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