In 1995, DIRECTV, then a subsidiary of General Motors, entered into a contract with General Electric Capital Corporation (GECC) “in which GECC agreed to establish and manage a private label consumer credit program for consumer purchases of hardware and related DIRECTV programming… A complaint and counterclaim were filed by the parties in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut concerning GECC’s performance and DIRECTV’s obligation to act as a surety… On July 21, 2000, the jury returned a verdict in favor of GECC and awarded contract damages in the amount of $133.0 million. The trial judge issued a order granting GECC $48.5 million in interest under Connecticut’s offer-of- judgment statute. With this order, the total judgment entered in GECC’s favor was $181.5 million.”