In 2003, News Corporation purchased Hughes Electronic's PanAmSat division and on April 24, 2004 sold PanAmSat to a consortium of private equity firms in a leveraged buyout including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners for $4.3 billion.
After acquiring Tribune Company in a leveraged buyout in April 2007, Sam Zell hired Wilson as president of Tribune Broadcasting in February 2008 as part of a new management team led by Randy Michaels.
The UAL deal unraveled because the Association of Flight Attendants pulled out of the deal when management, in negotiations over an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) designed to fund the leveraged buyout, refused to agree to terms equivalent to those negotiated with other labor groups.
Scott, Foresman became a public corporation and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but the company was taken private in a leveraged buyout in 1985.