USG Corp., a leading producer of building...

USG Corp., a leading producer of building materials, urged stockholders to reject a $1.9-billion hostile acquisition offer. USG Chairman Robert J. Day said in a letter to stockholders that Desert Partners LP’s unsolicited $42-a-share tender offer for their shares was “wholly inadequate” and “coercive.” Desert Partners, headed by Texas oilmen Jack E. Brown and Cyril Wagner Jr., offered on March 1 to pay $42 a share cash for 21.5 million shares of USG stock and to acquire the balance of the Chicago-based company’s 50.8 million outstanding shares with securities valued at $42 a share. Desert Partners already owns about 9.9% of USG stock.