PHILADELPHIA — General Electric has reached an agreement to buy the 20 percent stake in NBC Universal held by French media conglomerate Vivendi, The Associated Press has learned.
An understanding between GE and Vivendi has been reached but has yet to be formalized, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who requested anonymity because the negotiations were private.
The agreement would pave the way for GE to sell a 51 percent stake in the TV and movie company to Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable-TV provider. That deal, which would make Philadelphia-based Comcast one of the nation’s largest entertainment companies, is valued at about $30 billion.
GE wants to sell part of NBC Universal to raise money after suffering losses in its GE Capital unit. Meanwhile, Comcast wants to beef up its programming assets with a marquee name at a price it could handle — about $5 billion to $7 billion cash plus contribution of its cable networks to a joint venture that would house the new NBC Universal. The Associated Press
