Theodore Cross, editor of Businessand Society Review, a business publication, said an investor
group he heads has offered to buy Harper and Row Publishers Inc
for 34 dlrs a share cash.
    In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
Cross said he proposed the takeover to the board of the New
York publishing house today.
    Cross, whose investor group includes his wife, Mary, said
they already hold 261,650 Harper and Row common shares, or 6.0
pct of the total outstanding common stock. They said they have
spent 3.5 mln dlrs on their stake so far.
    Cross said he proposed in a letter to Harper and Row that
the company be merged into a company Cross is forming.
    Suggesting that the total cost of completing the merger
would be 190 mln dlrs, Cross said he would use 20 mln dlrs of
his own money for the deal and up to 170 mln dlrs which would
be borrowed from the First National Bank of Boston under a
revolving credit facility the bank has agreed to provide.

