Comcast to Acquire General Electric's 49% Common Equity Ownership Interest in NBCUniversal

online.barrons.com ^ | 12/12/2012

[RoosterRedux]

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today it will acquire GE's entire 49% common equity stake in the NBCUniversal joint venture for approximately $16.7 billion. Also, NBCUniversal will purchase from GE the properties used by NBCUniversal at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ for approximately $1.4 billion. The acquisition accelerates GE's divestiture ahead of a redemption period that would have begun in July 2014 and solidifies Comcast's position as a leading media and technology company. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of this year.

"This is an exciting day for Comcast as we have agreed to accelerate the purchase of NBCUniversal. The management team at GE has been a wonderful partner during the past two years and their support has been very valuable. Our decision to acquire GE's ownership is driven by our sense of optimism for the future prospects of NBCUniversal and our desire to capture future value that we hope to create for our shareholders," said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation. "We believe the terms of the transaction are attractive and have planned for this event by taking a number of financial steps to prepare our balance sheet. We believe we are in a strong and unique position to continue to grow and build value in our combined company."

[RoosterRedux]

Let's see what happens now that Obama's crony GE is moved out of the picture at NBC News.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Nothing is going to happen. In my opinion,Comcast is just as bad as GE.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

I hear COMCAST CEO is a big LIB.

[nascarnation]

FWIW Brian Roberts, the Comcast CEO, is a big Dem donor too.

[sportutegrl]

So Philadelphia based Kabletown is going to buy NBC from the Sheinhart Wig Company? Who besides 30 Rock saw that coming?

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I think about the only thing we will notice from this is that at least Comcast is a more entertainment media oriented than GE, which never quite got it down right, as a non-entertainment company.

[RoosterRedux]

I haven't seen the numbers but I understand Comcast paid for this deal with a ton of debt. That means that profits mean more than politics...unless they (Comcast) are also crony capitalists.

Here's the evidence...

If I were Comcast, I would tell NBC to start delivering the real news!