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To: Epics who wrote (200)	3/17/1998 9:15:00 AM
From: Epics	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 222

more news: BETHESDA, Md., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- COMSAT Corporation (NYSE: CQ) announced today that it has signed a stock purchase agreement to sell substantially all of COMSAT RSI, Inc. (CRSI), which was placed in discontinued operations in June 1997, to a subsidiary of TBG Industries, Inc. CRSI designs, manufactures and integrates earth stations as well as wireless and advanced antenna systems. "The CRSI sale will complete another milestone in our strategy to restructure COMSAT's balance sheet," said COMSAT President and Chief Executive Officer Betty C. Alewine. "Completion of this sale, along with last year's spin-off of Ascent Entertainment Group, Inc., leads us forward as a smaller, healthier, more strategically focused company with a stronger balance sheet and significantly less short-term debt." "These actions also enable us to focus fully our company's resources on three key shareholder value drivers already underway: satellite asset valuation through privatization of INTELSAT and Inmarsat, regulatory relief achieved by reclassification to non-dominant carrier status, and pro- competitive reform of the Communications Satellite Act," Alewine said. "COMSAT has made significant progress, particularly with the planned partial privatization of INTELSAT and proposed full privatization of Inmarsat. We also continue to work with the U.S. government to affect regulatory and legislative change necessary to allow us to compete more effectively in the global telecommunications marketplace." The CRSI sale price of $116.5 million is subject to adjustment based on inter-company loans and advances between COMSAT Corporation and CRSI at the time of closing. The financial impact of the transaction was included in the corporation's 1997 loss from discontinued operations. As previously announced, COMSAT will use proceeds from the sale of CRSI to repay short-term debt. As part of the agreement, the Corporation is retaining Electromechanical Systems, Inc. (EMS) and Plexsys International Corporation, pending the evaluation of available alternatives. COMSAT also will retain and complete a long-term construction contract for a radio telescope in Green Bank, W.Va. As previously announced, COMSAT sold substantially all of the assets of JEFA Wireless Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of CRSI, in a separate transaction. Closing for the CRSI sale is expected to occur on or before June 30, 1998, and is dependent upon completion of certain conditions agreed to by the parties, third party consents and regulatory filings. Some of the statements in this news release are forward-looking, and are based on COMSAT management's current expectations and assumptions. The timing and completion of the sale of CRSI are subject to, and may be affected adversely by, a number of factors which are not wholly within the control of the corporation including governmental action on regulatory filings, receipt of third-party consents and satisfaction of other closing conditions agreed to by the parties. COMSAT Corporation is a global provider of satellite services and digital networking services and technology. SOURCE COMSAT Corporation /CONTACT: Janet Dewar, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, 301-214-3442; or Gary Sharpe, Director, Investor Relations, 301-214-3244; both of COMSAT/ (CQ)