A Delaware judge refused to grant British...

A Delaware judge refused to grant British publisher Robert Maxwell’s request for an order against a key element in Macmillan Inc.’s buyout agreement with a rival suitor. The ruling could further complicate Maxwell’s efforts to acquire the publishing and information services giant, which already agreed to a $2.5-billion buyout bid from a group led by the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and including Macmillan senior management. A chancery court judge in Wilmington, Del., denied a request for an injunction against a provision granted by Macmillan that gives the Kohlberg group the right to buy four of Macmillan’s businesses for $865 million should the merger fail to materialize.