Loral Corporation was a small Bronx defense contractor on the verge of bankruptcy when in 1972 it was acquired by Bernard Schwartz, who over the course of the next two decades built it into a major player in the global aerospace and defense industry, acquiring sixteen other defense and aerospace companies. In 1995, Loral had $5.5 billion in revenue. In 1996 Loral sold its defense electronics and system integration businesses to Lockheed Martin; its remaining units became Loral Space & Communications. The following year, several of those former Loral units were spun off by Lockheed Martin to become the core of L-3 Communications.
So L-3 Comunications was spun off from Lockheed Martin after acquisition from Loral Corporation. It originally was one of Loral's defense electronics and system integration businesses.
Thanks for the info - see post 19.