Hughes LAN Systems Inc has long looked an uncomfortable fit within the General Motors Corp Hughes Electronics Corp subsidiary, and late Friday the company said it will sell the Santa Clara business to Whittaker Corp of Los Angeles. Whittaker will pay $32.5m in cash and convertible subordinated debt – split $17.5m and $15m – plus deferred payments of up to $25m over four years based on future sales of Hughes LAN’s hubs. Hughes LAN offers Asynchronous Transfer Mode-compatible local network communications hubs, switched Ethernet hardware and network management software. Whittaker’s Communications arm makes Asynchronous Mode Enterprise Network Access Switches for sending data at high speed between local nets across wide area ones, and a line of Asynchronous Mode video and file servers; the deal will enable it to offer complete Asynchronous Mode systems. Hughes is retaining Hughes Network Systems, saying it wants to focus on expanding in wide area networking.
