DART GROUP DROPS DAYTON HUDSON <DH> TAKEOVER BID
Dart Group Corp <DARTA.O> affiliate
Madison Partners said that given current market conditions it
has dropped its takeover bid for Dayton Hudson Corp.
    The company said it sold 1.4 mln of its 4.6 mln shares of
Dayton Hudson stock.
    It said it intends to sell the rest of its Dayton Hudson
shares. At current market levels, it would suffer a 70 mln dlr
aftertax loss on its holding, a spokesman said.
    Dart said it will not solicit authorization to call a
meeting of Dayton Hudson shareholders.
    Dart had offered to buy Dayton Hudson for 68 dlrs per
share, valuing the Minneapolis based retailer at 6.6 billion
dlrs. That offer was rejected by the company.
    Following the selloff in takeover stocks last week, and the
market's decline this week, Dayton Hudson stock closed at
27-1/2 today, off 2-1/2.
    Dart's holdings amounted to just under five pct of Dayton
Hudson.
    A Dart spokesman said the 1.4 mln shares were sold in the
market today.
 Reuter
