Loral Corp. said Monday that it plans to sell a 49% interest in its newly acquired satellite division of Newport Beach-based Ford Aerospace Corp. to three European firms for $182 million.
Loral, a New York-based defense electronics concern, will sell the minority interest in the Palo Alto-based Space Systems division to Aerospatiale Societe Nationale Industrielle of France, Alcatel NV of Belgium and Selenia Spazio SPA of Italy.
The sale is the second major asset of Ford Aerospace to be partially or fully divested by Loral before it completes its $715-million acquisition of the aerospace and defense company. The sale is expected to close sometime this week, said Elizabeth Allen, a Loral spokeswoman.
The deal with the European firms would create one of the world's largest commercial satellite businesses, with combined satellite operations revenue of $1.3 billion between the partners, challenging Hughes Aircraft Co. and General Electric Corp.
