COMSAT

[1] The primary goal of COMSAT was to serve as a public, federally funded corporation intended to develop a commercial and international satellite communication system.

To separate these activities from its Intelsat business as required by the Federal Communications Commission, a subsidiary company named Comsat General was formed.

[8] During the two-year approval process, Comsat shareholders lost about US$300 million in purchase value because of a drop in Lockheed Martin stock as the two companies struggled through complex congressional and regulatory hurdles.

[citation needed] On 27 March 2001, LMGT announced the sale of the COMSAT mobile communications unit, which had been aligned with the satellite services business, to Telenor of Norway for US$116.5 million.

This sale was completed on 11 January 2002, and included COMSAT mobile's two Earth station facilities, one in Southbury, Connecticut, and one in Santa Paula, California.

At that time, COMSAT General provided satellite-centric telecommunications services and equipment, concentrating on international fixed and mobile satellite systems.

The Nuggets' purchase was one of professional sports' first attempts to introduce African-Americans into ownership groups (it included Peter Bynoe, a Chicago lawyer, and business partner Bertram Lee, who held a combined 37.5% interest).

[14] The franchises took convincingly different directions in terms of on-court/ice production: the Nuggets were perennially among the worst teams in the NBA (bottoming out with an 11–71 record in 1997–98), while the Avalanche won a Stanley Cup in their first season in Colorado (1996) and five consecutive division trophies under Ascent's watch.

In addition, COMSAT/Ascent were responsible for the construction of the Pepsi Center (which opened in 1999) where the two franchises play today, and costs began to put a drain on business.

[14] However, Liberty was not interested in sports ownership at the time (though it has since bought Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves), and made the deal contingent upon Ascent selling the Avalanche and Nuggets.

[17] Finally, in July 2000, the Avalanche, Nuggets and Pepsi Center were bought by real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke in a US$450 million deal.