SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549-1004
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report
(Date of earliest event reported) July 25, 2000
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HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
STATE OF DELAWARE 0-26035 52-1106564
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(State or other jurisdiction (Commission (I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation or organization) File Number) Identification No.)
200 North Sepulveda Boulevard
El Segundo, California 90245
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(310) 662-9688
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(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area
code, of registrants' principal executive office)
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
On July 25, 2000, Hughes Electronics Corporation (Hughes) issued a news
release announcing that Hughes would appeal a United States District Court jury
$133 million verdict against Hughes and its DIRECTV subsidiary related to a
lawsuit involving General Electric Capital Corporation. The release is as
follows:
HUGHES WILL APPEAL LAWSUIT VERDICT
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 25, 2000 -- Hughes Electronics Corporation today
announced that it would appeal a United States District Court jury verdict in a
breach of contract lawsuit involving a failed consumer financing program for
satellite receiving systems.
A District Court jury in Connecticut Friday returned a $133 million
verdict against California-based Hughes and its DIRECTV subsidiary in a nearly
3-year-old lawsuit involving General Electric Capital Corporation of Stamford,
Connecticut.
"We are very disappointed in the verdict and do not believe that it is
supported at all by the facts. We will vigorously appeal and are confident that
the verdict will be overturned," said Robert M. Hall, senior vice president and
General Counsel of DIRECTV Enterprises, Inc. "We are convinced that a number of
issues decided before and during the trial affected our presentation to the jury
and caused them to render a verdict that is not consistent with the law and the
facts, and will not be upheld on appeal."
Hughes does not believe that the litigation will ultimately have a
material adverse impact on Hughes' results of operations or financial position.
DIRECTV in 1995 retained GE Capital to establish, administer and manage a
consumer-financing program for the purchase of DIRECTV satellite entertainment
systems and related video equipment and services.
The program, called EZ Approval, ran from March 1996 through August 1996.
DIRECTV and Hughes had agreed to reimburse GE Capital if consumers defaulted on
their loans through the program. Losses under the program were much higher than
expected, and DIRECTV contends the losses were caused by GE Capital's failure to
perform.
GE Capital on Sept. 5, 1997 filed a $157 million lawsuit against DIRECTV
and Hughes to recover its losses. DIRECTV filed counterclaims totaling $45
million against GE Capital alleging that GE Capital fraudulently induced DIRECTV
to enter into the program agreement by misrepresenting its abilities to provide
accurate credit scores for loan applicants and other services.
Hughes Electronics is the world's leading provider of digital television
entertainment, satellite services and satellite-based private business networks,
and is a unit of General Motors Corporation. The earnings on Hughes are used to
calculate the earnings per share attributable to the General Motors Class H
common stock (NYSE:GMH).
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
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(Registrant)
By
Date July 26, 2000 /s/Roxanne S. Austin
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(Roxanne S. Austin,
Chief Financial Officer)
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