spacetoday.net: AOL sells Hughes shares

Posted: Wed, Jan 29, 2003, 1:32 PM ET (1832 GMT)
Media conglomerate AOL Time Warner has sold its stake in Hughes Electronics, owner of satellite TV provider DirecTV and majority shareholder of satellite operator PanAmSat, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. According to the report, AOL sold its 8.4% portion of Hughes to Bank of America, which plans to resell the shares on the open market. AOL made the sale, valued at approximately $800 million, to free up funding to reduce its massive corporate debt. The Journal reported that AOL offered the shares to News Corporation, which is considering an acquisition of Hughes, but News Corp. declined to buy. AOL had planned to hold on to the shares, which are currently trading near their 52-week low, but the desire to raise money quickly overcame plans to wait until a future acquisition of Hughes increased the shares' value.