G.E. Said Ready To Buy Vivendi Share Of NBC Universal For $5.8 Billion

December 1, 2009 11:29 a.m. EST

Paris, France (AHN) - Media company Vivendi has tentatively agreed to sell its minority stake in NBC Universal to General Electric, according to several media reports. Resolution of the deal, which has been in negotiations for several weeks, would allow G.E. to sell NBC Universal to Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator.

Quoting unnamed sources said to be close to the negotiations, reports indicated that GE will purchase Vivendi's 20 percent share of NBC Universal for $5.8 billion. G.E. would then sell a majority share of the television and movie company to Comcast for $30 billion.

A formal announcement could come as soon as Thursday.

The story was originally reported by the Wall Street Journal.

NBC Universal includes the NBC network, cable financial channel CNBC, news channel MSNBC, and Spanish-language channel Telemundo as well as film studio Universal Pictures and theme parks in the United States and Japan. NBC also owns the broadcast rights to the Olympic Games through 2012.

G.E. acquired NBC in 1986 from RCA Corp., and its portions of Universal theme parks in a 2004 deal with Vivendi.

Comcast would own 51 percent of NBC Universal. It would bring to the deal cable channels such as Versus, the Golf Channel, and E-Entertainment.

G.E. would retain a 49 percent stake, which it would sell over several years to Comcast, according to the reports.

The sale would allow G.E. to focus on its businesses in finance, health care and industry. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of jet engines, locomotives and medical imaging machines.

Vivendi (VIV) was up 3.4 percent to 19.85 in Paris. G.E. (GE) was up 0.3 percent and Comcast (CMCSA) rose 1.4 percent in mid-morning trading in New York.