Tci Plans To Sell Rural Cable Systems

Tele-Communications Inc. said it agreed to sell some rural cable systems with 300,000 subscribers to a partnership with Falcon Holding Group LP in exchange for a minority stake in the partnership.

The agreement is the third such transaction announced by TCI in recent weeks as part of its strategy to sell cable systems that don’t fit with its main focus and get the associated debt off its books.

TCI will combine 16 of its cable systems in Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Alabama and California with Falcon’s systems that have 700,000 subscribers in 26 states.

The TCI systems to be sold include Kennewick, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima, Wash.; Pendleton, LeGrande, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Newport and Medford, Ore.; Cape Girardeau, Nev.; Clinton and Knob Noster, Mo.; Redding, Calif.; and Piedmont/Centre and Decatur, Ala.