Fruit of the Loom is to be auctioned on December 13th with a new owner to be chosen on December 18th and confirmed on January 2nd 2002, writes Conor O'Clery.

This follows a ruling yesterday by a US bankruptcy court judge in Wilmington Delaware who approved the auction for the bankrupt clothing-maker. The main contender is billionaire Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway group which has already bid $835 million (€943 million) for Fruit of the Loom.

Berkshire had set a $30 million fee if its bid was exceeded but agreed to a lower figure after the judge objected in a ruling last month.