Complex sentence: However, as de Lesseps' company had before, the New Panama Canal Company soon abandoned efforts to build the canal, selling the land in Panama to the United States, in hopes that the company would not fail entirely.
Split into simpler sentences: However, as de Lesseps' company had before, the New Panama Canal Company soon abandoned efforts to build the canal. It sold the land in Panama to the United States, in hopes that the company would not fail entirely.