Lockheed to Sell Stake in Satellite Venture

Lockheed Martin Corp. agreed to sell about a third of its stake in a marine satellite venture to Norway’s Telenor to defray costs at its satellite telecommunications business. Lockheed expects to receive $100 million from the sale of the stake in Inmarsat Ventures Ltd. Lockheed’s ownership of the venture will drop to 14% from about 22%, a spokesman said. The stake of Telenor, Norway’s largest telephone company, will rise to 15% from 6.8%. Lockheed acquired its portion of Inmarsat, originally set up as an intergovernmental satellite organization, through last month’s purchase of Comsat Corp. Shares of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed closed up 19 cents at $29.69 on the NYSE.