USAir Group Inc said the U.S.Department of Transportation has issued an order allowing it to
purchase and hold in a voting trust the 9,309,394 Piedmont
Aviation Inc shares USAir is seeking in its current 69 dlr per
share tender offer.
    The company said the new order supersedes an order issued
by the department last Friday that would have required USAir to
sell within one week of expiration of the tender any Piedmont
shares it held in excess of 51 pct of the Piedmont stock then
outstanding.
    The company said the 9,309,394 Piedmont shares, together
with the 2,292,599 Piedmont shares already owned by USAir,
constitute about 50.1 pct of Piedmont's shares on a
fully-diluted basius but about 61.0 pct of shares currently
outstanding.
    The shares are to be held in a voting trust pending the
department's review of USAir's application to obtain control of
Piedmont.
 Reuter
