Briefs

Cox Names Panel To Weigh Buyout

Atlanta — Cox Communications Inc. named a special committee of independent directors to evaluate Cox Enterprises Inc.’s bid to buy the CCI shares it doesn’t already own and take the cable company private.

The panel is comprised of Janet Clarke, president of Clarke Littlefield LLC and a CCI director since 1995; Rodney Schrock, former president and CEO of Panasas Inc. and an AltaVista and a CCI director since 2000; and former Atlanta mayor and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, a CCI director since 1995.

The special committee hired Goldman Sachs & Co. as financial adviser and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as legal adviser.

No specific time frame was set for the committee to review the proposal.

Comcast Gets Small Bounce Via Buffett

Philadelphia — Comcast Corp.shares got a slight lift Aug. 17 after it was disclosed that widely followed investor Warren Buffett bought 5 million shares in the company for $147.9 million.

Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corp., bought the shares through GEICO Corp., the auto-insurance carrier Berkshire controls. Neither Comcast nor Berkshire listed the purchase in recent regulatory filings. GEICO revealed the purchase in a state regulatory document, according to Bloomberg News.

GEICO bought the shares on April 30, two days after Comcast dropped its unsolicited bid for The Walt Disney Co. The total purchase price assumes that GEICO purchased the Comcast shares for about $29.59 each. The stock closed at $29.12 that day.

Comcast had been hit hard after making the bid for Disney in February, falling from $33.93 on Feb. 10 to as low as $28 in March. Comcast rose about 2% Tuesday, closing at $27.42, up 56 cents.

Intelsat to Sell For $5 Billion

Pembroke, Bermuda — Four private-equity firms have formed a consortium to buy global satellite service provider Intelsat Ltd.for about $5 billion in cash and assumed debt.

Apax Partners, Permira, Apollo Investment Management and Madison Dearborn Partners formed Zeus Holdings to buy Intelsat for about $18.75 per share. It will also assume Intelsat’s $2 billion of debt.

Intelsat said the deal, which needs shareholder approval, should close before year-end.

Intelsat was created in 1964 through a partnership of 147 different countries. Privatized in 2001, it is closely held by major investors like Lockheed Martin Corp., VSNL of India and Telenor of Norway. The satellite company has twice scrapped plans for an initial public offering — once in 2002 and the second time in May.