GE and Comcast announce deal for NBC Universal

Dec 3, 2009, 14:24 GMT

Los Angeles - General Electric and cable TV giant Comcast announced a joint venture Thursday that will see Comcast take control of media powerhouse NBC-Universal, in a deal worth about 37 billion dollars.

Under the terms of the deal, Comcast will contribute 6.5 billion dollars in cash and cable television stations worth about 7.5 billion dollars to gain a 51 per cent stake in NBC Universal, which includes the NBC broadcast network, the Universal theme parks and film studios, and the cable channels MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. The channels coming from Comcast include the Golf Channel, Versus and E Entertainment.

General Electric had been under shareholder pressure to divest its ownership of NBC Universal and concentrate on its core industrial sectors. The deal was enabled earlier this week when GE reached agreement with Vivendi to buy the French telecommunications giant's 20 per cent share of NBC Universal for 5.8 billion dollars.

The deal gives Comcast unprecedented control over both the content and infrastructure of US television and was hailed as a coup by company CEO Brian Roberts. The deal is 'a perfect fit for Comcast and will allow us to become a leader in the development and distribution of multiplatform 'anytime, anywhere' media that American consumers are demanding,' he said in a statement announcing the deal.