Sears, Roebuck & Co CEO Arthur Martinez confirmed to analysts in New York yesterday that the firm wants to sell its 50% stake in Prodigy Services Co and put the money into its core retailing business. The statement comes in the wake of the H & R Block Inc announcement that the financial services company is spinning off Compuserve (CI 2856). As the third largest online service in the US, White Plains, New York-based Prodigy has 1.5 million subscribers after Compuserve with 4 million subscribers and America Online with 5 million. It was created in 1984 by Chicago, Illinois Sears and Armonk, New York International Business Machines Corp. A Prodigy spokesperson told Computergram the decision resolves a long-standing issue but could not name any potential buyers. An IBM Spokesperson told Computergram it had no plans to sell off its slice of Prodigy.
