Comcast to Acquire Control of NBC Universal in $30B Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 3, 2009 - 10:58am.

New York - Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's largest cable TV provider, announced on Thursday that it has agreed to acquire majority ownership of NBC Universal from General Electric (NYSE: GE), in a deal valued at more than $30 billion. Facilitating the agreement is a deal that will see France's Vivendi sell its 20% stake in NBC Universal to GE for $5.8 billion. Comcast and GE will form a joint venture that will include NBCU, and Comcast's $7.25 billion worth of cable and regional sports networks and other assets; Comcast will control 51% of the venture, and GE the other 49%.

GE has the right to sell half of its stake after 3.5 years, and the remainder after 7 years.

NBCU also said it obtained $9.85 billion of committed financing through a consortium of banks.

NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker will become CEO of the new joint venture, to be headquartered in New York, and will report to Comcast chief operating officer Steve Burke.

The deal is subject to the approval of antitrust regulators, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and certain international agencies.

Consumer advocacy groups and those opposed to media consolidation were quick to voice their concerns with the deal.

"This merger's potential to foreclose competition and stifle innovation is significant and real," said Mark Cooper, research director for the Consumer Federation of America.

For their part, Comcast and GE said that they "intend to submit regulatory applications supporting the pro-competitive and strong public interest benefits of the transaction, including how the joint venture will better meet the entertainment, communications and information needs of the American public."

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091203005502/en

http://snipurl.com/tjped (WSJ)

http://www.freepress.net/files/FP_CFA-Comcast-NBC-WhitePaper.pdf (PDF)