Harvard left the ivory tower of academia for the street fighting world of Wall Street takeovers and won. Two weeks ago, Harvard finally outbid its competitor for White River Corporation in what is believed to be the largest acquisition ever by a nonprofit institution.

The stakes involved--$442 million of Harvard's money--may be small compared to the multibillion dollar mergers of telephone giants like WorldCom and MCI or financial behemoths Citicorp and Travelers.

But that $442 million is 6 percent of Harvard's $11 billion endowment.

In the Harvard spirit, the University is carving a new path for investing endowment funds. According to analysts, universities do not typically use endowments to buy companies, but with Harvard's colossal donations, they say, anything is possible.

"This is not something we've heard of before," says Joe P. Beare, an analyst with Moody's Investors Services, a New York investment firm that works closely with Harvard.

"If this were another university, I would worry, but it's not something unusual for Harvard, given the sheer magnitude of Harvard's endowment," he adds.

Despite the ground-breaking nature and large financial stakes of the acquisition, high ranking finance officials in the University administration expressed little or no knowledge about the acquisition. They say the Harvard Private Group Incorporated (HPG), a subsidiary of Harvard Management Company (HMC), ran the show from beginning to end.

HMC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University and manages the investment of Harvard's endowment.

Elizabeth C. "Beppie" Huidekoper, Harvard's vice president for finance, says she did not participate in discussions about the takeover but trusts HMC's decisions.

"They must expect it to be a very good positive return," Huidekoper says.

Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 denies any knowledge of the deal, saying he has never heard the name White River.

The acquisition is still contingent on the approval of White River's shareholders. The corporation's board of directors announced April 7 its decision to recommend the takeover to its shareholders, a step which Harvard administrators described as a formality.

If White River does not go through with the deal, it will pay Harvard a $13.5 million break-up fee and $1.5 million for expenses.

White River, located in White Plains, New York, is publicly traded on the NASD Exchange and, based on current financial reports, is financially healthy.

The corporation is a diversified holding company, meaning it has a wide variety of different types of investments. White River owns 36 percent of CCC Information Services Group, Inc., holds stock in Cross Timbers Oil Company and has other small holdings. Its stocks value about $90 million.