DirecTV Holdings LLC on Thursday said it had closed the sale of roughly $4 billion of senior notes, some of which may be used for share repurchases and a distribution to its parent company.

The El Segundo company, which is the nation’s largest satellite-television provider, said it received net proceeds of $3.97 billion from the sale of the notes, which also will be used for general corporate purposes. DirecTV became part of Liberty Entertainment Inc., a split-off from John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., after a merger in late 2009.

The company sold $1.5 billion of 3.5-percent senior notes due in 2016, $1.5 billion of 5-percent senior notes due in 2021, and $1 billion of 6.37-percent senior notes due in 2041. Bloomberg News estimated that that the transaction was the second-biggest bond sale by a non-financial company so far this year.

Shares were down 77 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $45.59 in midday trading on the Nasdaq.