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UPDATE 2-Dana chairman dies, company names acting successor

(Adds naming of acting chairman and acting president, background and details)

CHICAGO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Auto parts maker Dana Corp. , which is battling a hostile takeover bid, said on Tuesday its chairman and chief executive, Joseph Magliochetti, died due to complications from pancreatitis.

Dana said Glen Hiner, a longtime director, was named acting chairman.

The Toledo, Ohio-based company also appointed Bill Carroll as acting president. Carroll, president of Dana's automotive systems group, was appointed acting chief operating officer during Magliochetti's illness and will continue in that role as well.

Magliochetti, 61, who led Dana through a restructuring that closed more than 30 plants in two years, had been hospitalized for the past two weeks for pancreatitis following the removal of a gallstone. He died on Monday evening.

Magliochetti was Dana's chairman of the board since 2000 and chief executive since 1999. He started as a management trainee in 1966 at a Chicago company that was absorbed by Dana the following year and had remained at Dana since then, serving in a variety of managerial roles.

More recently, Magliochetti fought a hostile takeover bid for Dana from rival auto parts maker ArvinMeritor Inc. In rejecting the $2.2 billion offer, he said antitrust concerns and divestitures that would result from a combination would make the deal pointless.

Troy, Michigan-based ArvinMeritor offered $15 for each Dana share in a hostile bid launched in July. In August, it extended the offer, and set a new deadline of Oct. 2 for shareholders to tender their shares.

An ArvinMeritor spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the management change would affect the ongoing takeover bid, which has been marred by lawsuits filed by both sides.

Dana shares were up 1.53 percent at $15.89 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday afternoon.

Magliochetti was also a director of BellSouth Corp. and Cigna Corp. and a past chairman of the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association.

He is survived by his wife, Kathy, three children and one grandchild.

(Additional reporting by Karen Padley)