Not close -- and no cigar, either. That appears to be the outcome for my prediction that Ball Corporation (NYSE: BALL) would be able to secure an $8 billion sales price for its underperforming Ball Aerospace division, which the can manufacturer put up for sale in June.

Had Ball succeeded in making this sale, at this price, the cash windfall would have been big enough to nearly pay off Ball's $9.6 billion net debt load. Now, Ball will be lucky to pay off just half its net debt. Ball has a total debt load of $10.2 billion, against $955 million in ready cash.

That's the long and short of this story. On Thursday last week, Ball announced that after reviewing offers from several bidders, it has decided to sell its space division, Ball Aerospace, to Britain's BAE Systems (OTC: BAES.Y). The British defense contractor will pay Ball $5.6 billion for the space subsidiary. And after paying taxes on the proceeds, Ball will be left with just $4.5 billion in cash.  

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Source Fool.com