Restructuring Is Done, Paramount Announces

Paramount Communications Inc. said it has finished its restructuring, which began in 1983, by completing its previously announced sale of a finance unit Tuesday to Ford Motor Co. for $3.35 billion.

The Dallas-based unit, Associates Corp. of North America, is the nation’s third-largest finance company when measured by total assets. The unit provides a broad range of consumer finance, specialized commercial finance and leasing and related insurance products.

Paramount’s chairman and chief executive, Martin Davis, said: “As a pure global communications company, we are now able to concentrate all our creative and distribution energies on entertainment and publishing.”