GM Tries to Appease Class H Stockholders

General Motors Corp. will try to mollify angry owners of its Class H stock by giving them more of the proceeds from the sale of its Hughes Electronics defense business to Raytheon Co., investors and analysts said. Otherwise, Class H investors said, they may reject the planned $9.5-billion sale. Owners of the stock say the auto maker’s charter requires it to give them six GM common shares for every five Class H shares if Hughes is sold, which would value the Class H shares at $70 to $80 each. But GM refused to do that kind of exchange and contended that it can pay Class H investors in another way as long as both classes of stockholders approve. It hasn’t said what the value of its proposal will be. Lexington, Mass.-based Raytheon plans to issue 102.6 million shares to buy Hughes. Ultimately, GM will offer Class H owners enough of those shares to persuade them to back the transaction, analysts said.