P527ORACLE 527 Mon10 Feb C4 1701:45   COATS PATON BACKS  £734m VANTONA BID The board of Coats Patons, the Scottish wool giant which includes Jaeger, is backing a £734m merger bid from Vantona Viyella, the shirts and sheets group. The terms are 10 new ordinaries in Vantona for every 17 in Coats. The offer tops the peviously agreed bid make two weeks ago by Dawson Int which then valued Coats Patons at £633m. If the Vantona offer goes through it will create a textiles group with a market capitalisation of £1.2bn and annual sales of £1.7bn. See also p513  City headlines 500 Newsfile 520 * HOLIDAYS GALORE! * 580