percent stake in the British supermarket group Somerfield Plc to institutional investors for $290 million.

Dairy Farm, headquartered in Hong Kong, is the food-retailing unit of the Bermuda-based Jardine Group. It had revenue of $6.9 billion in 1997.

Last month, Somerfield agreed to merge with Kwik Save Group Plc to create Britain's fifth-largest supermarket chain. For the year ended April 2, 1997, Somerfield reported sales of about $5.2 billion.

Dairy Farm said the sale "completes our exit from Europe and will allow clear focus on our Asia-Pacific growth strategy.''