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WestPoint Stevens, Inc., the successor to West Point- Pepperell, Inc., has petitioned the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission to reopen and vacate a 1988 consent order stemming from West Point Pepperells's acquisition of J.P. Stevens & Co., Inc. The order permitted the acquisition but required West Point to divest certain sheet and towel manufacturing facilities and prohibited West Point, for ten years, from making certain acquisitions in the sheet and towel industries without prior Commission approval.

WestPoint Stevens makes the request pursuant to the Commission's prior-approval policy, under which the Commission adopted a rebuttable presumption that the public interest requires deleting prior-approval provisions in outstanding merger orders. The petition will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until Aug. 11. WestPoint Stevens is headquartered in West Point, Ga.

In the alternative, WestPoint Stevens requests that the Commission modify the consent order by deleting the prior- approval provision.

Comments on the petition should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

Copies of the petition, as well as other documents associated with this case, are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest FTC news as it is announced, call the FTC's NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC's World Wide Web Site at: http://www.ftc.gov

(FTC Docket No. C-3244)