Loral Space & Communications Inc. has completed the
sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), to
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates
Ltd. (TSX: MDA). At closing, Loral received
$968 million in cash plus a bank guaranteed
three-year promissory note in the principal amount of
$101 million for the purchase of certain real
estate used in connection with SS/L's business.
"We are exceptionally pleased that we have closed the
SS/L sale transaction at a value that recognizes SS/L's
leadership and premier position in the global satellite
manufacturing business," said
Michael B. Targoff, Chief Executive Officer of Loral Space & Communications. "Congratulations to MDA.
We are confident that the combination of SS/L with MDA
will benefit SS/L's employees, customers and suppliers
and the entire satellite communications industry."
"We are proud of our management team's success in
establishing SS/L as a leading global commercial
satellite manufacturer and in bringing the transaction
with MDA to closure," said Dr.
Mark Rachesky, Chairman of the Board of
Directors of Loral. "The transaction reflects the
Board's continued commitment to delivering significant
value to all Loral shareholders, and the Board will
evaluate the opportunity to return capital to
shareholders through a cash distribution of the net cash
proceeds from this sale transaction."
About
Loral Space & Communications Inc.
Loral Space & Communications is a satellite
communications company. Loral owns 64 percent of Telesat Canada, a global operator of telecommunications
and direct broadcast satellites used to distribute video
entertainment programming, broadband data, and provide
access to Internet services and other value-added
communications services. For more information, visit
Loral's web site at
www.loral.com. LORL-F
This document contains forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press
release, the words "believes," "expects," "plans,"
"may," "will," "would," "could," "should,"
"anticipates," "estimates," "project," "intend" or
"outlook" or other variations of these words or other
similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements and information. In addition, Loral Space & Communications Inc.
or its representatives have made or may make
forward-looking statements, orally or in writing, which
may be included in, but are not limited to, various
filings made from time to time with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, and press releases or
oral statements made with the approval of an authorized
executive officer of the company. Actual results may
differ materially from anticipated results as a result
of certain risks and uncertainties which are described
as "Risk Factors" and in the "Commitments and
Contingencies" note to our financial statements in the
current Form 10-K and in Loral's quarterly reports on
Form 10-Q. The reader is specifically referred to these
documents, as well as the Company's other filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited
to (1) risks associated with financial factors,
including swings in the global financial markets,
increases in interest rates and access to capital; (2)
risks associated with satellite services, including
dependence on large customers, launch delays and
failures, in-orbit failures and competition; (3)
regulatory risks, such as the effect of industry and
government regulations that affect Telesat; (4) litigation risks,
including patent litigation with ViaSat and (5) other
risks, including a possible initial public offering at Telesat that could adversely affect the market for our
common stock. The foregoing list of important factors is
not exclusive. Furthermore, Loral operates in an
industry sector where securities values may be volatile
and may be influenced by economic and other factors
beyond Loral's control.
