OK for Woolworth Raid Sought

Herbert Haft, the corporate raider who has tried and failed to acquire a string of big retail outfits, has filed for government approval to acquire up to $15 million of F. W. Woolworth Co. shares, Woolworth’s said today.

In response to Haft’s March 18 filing under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which would allow him to buy up to 15% of the retailer after a 60-day waiting period, Woolworth’s announced a shareholder rights plan to protect it against what it said would be a hostile acquisition by an “adverse person.” Haft and his family, which includes his son, Robert Haft, owner of the discount bookstore Crown Books Corp., have been shopping for a retail outfit since selling the Dart Drug chain in 1984 for $160 million.