Redstone sells Midway stake for $100,000

Sumner Redstone's National Amusements Inc. holding company sold its 87 percent stake in Midway Games Inc. as he tries to keep control of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc.

The sale may ease the financial pressure on the Redstone family, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported the transaction earlier today. Redstone is considering selling National Amusements' theater chain as part of the effort to refinance $800 million in bank loans that come due this month, a person with knowledge of the discussions said last week.

Midway closed Nov. 28 at 38 cents a share, valuing Redstone's stake at $30.5 million. Mark Thomas, an investor, will pay $100,000, or 0.12 cent a share, for the stock.

In October, National Amusements sold $233 million in non- voting shares of CBS and Viacom to meet debt covenants. Redstone, 85, said on Nov. 13 that no more shares of the New York-based media companies will be sold.

The New York Stock Exchange said Nov. 28 that it may delist Midway because the Chicago-based company hasn't maintained an average market value of at least $75 million over 30 days. Midway shares have declined 86 percent this year. The company has lost money every quarter for the past four years.

Redstone built National Amusements, a New England movie- theater operator, into one of the biggest U.S. media companies. At the age of 63, he mounted a takeover battle for Viacom, a syndicated and cable-television programmer.

At the end of 2005, Redstone split CBS and Viacom, with the broadcaster set up to pay a large dividend and the cable-network company designed for faster growth.