Unisys Corp is finally said to be close to selling much of its defence and aerospace business for about $800m after receiving bids from Loral Corp, Raytheon Co and General Motors Corp’s Hughes Aircraft Co, the Wall Street Journal reported, although only Loral was prepared to comment. The paper does not know which contender is out in front, but says an agreement could be announced as soon as this week. Loral acknowledged that it had evaluated the Unisys assets. The businesses had estimated 1994 sales of $1,200m, and are expected to decline by another $200m this year. Shedding that $1,200m of volume would have reduced 1994 turnover for Unisys to just $6,200m.