DirecTV Group Inc. has sold a 50 percent stake in a new company unit that includes its Hughes Network Systems business, which makes satellite communications equipment, to Skyterra Communications Inc. for nearly $251 million in cash. Skyterra is an affiliate of New York-based private equity firm Apollo Management LP.

El Segundo-based DirecTV will receive 300,000 Skyterra shares in exchange for the interest, valuing Hughes Network Systems at $360 million. Shares of DirecTV fell 1 percent to $15.64 at 7:47 a.m. PDT on the New York Stock Exchange.