ITC Service Co. Sells Its Shares of EarthLink

Valley, Ala.-based ITC Service Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC Holding Company, has sold its 10,648,134 shares in EarthLink Inc. to pursue other investments.

In a statement released by EarthLink, ITC executives Campbell Lanier and William H. Scott III have resigned from EarthLink’s board of directors.

ITC Holdings refused to comment on the sale.

Bloomberg News estimated the dollar amount of the sale of the EarthLink shares netted ITC Holdings about $97.5 million. The buyer of the shares was not made available by either company. The sold shares amount to 7.7 percent of EarthLink’s stock.

Lanier’s replacement on EarthLink’s board is Robert Kavner. Kavner was previously a member of the EarthLink Board of Directors prior to its merger with MindSpring Enterprises. Mr. Kavner is currently chairman of idealab!. Previously, he has held executive positions at On Command Corp. and AT&T. Scott’s replacement has not been named yet.

ITC Holdings also has investments in Internet and telecommunications companies such as Powertel, Headhunter.net and AllConnect.

With ITC Service’s separation from EarthLink, industry analysts might speculate the ISP as a prime acquisition target. Microsoft has been rumored to be interested in EarthLink for months, but a takeover seems unlikely, since the sold shares went to various entities.

Bloomberg News and The Atlanta Journal contributed.