Who will buy NBC?

[Maestro701]

Financial giant General Electric (GE) is reportedly looking to sell a portion of its 80% ownership in its NBC-Universal joint venture with Vivendi (20%). The scheme currently sees Comcast joining with NBC-U in a new business. But Liberty Media’s John Malone, always keen to pick up a bargain, is also sniffing around, as is News Corp.

NBC-U was formed back in 2004 through a ‘merger’ between NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment. For the past few weeks it has been widely reported that Vivendi would itself be exercising its right to sell off its 20% holding.

Comcast’s current intention is to increase its stake to a controlling amount in a new GE joint-venture, 51% to Comcast and leaving GE with 49%. NBC-Universal is said to have a value of about $30bn. Comcast would cough up between $4bn-$6bn in cash, and thus help GE out of its own financial mess. Comcast would also inject its assorted cable channels into the new joint-venture, and then be able to further leverage that new business with fresh borrowings.

News Corp’s interest, even if it were to be carried through to a conclusion, is said to be likely to hit some anti-trust buffers, while Liberty’s actions are as yet unclear but is said to be limited to taking a minority stake.

However, GE is claimed to be seeking a deal with Comcast as being the least complex of the potential options on the table. An agreement with Comcast would also provide cash, and the end result significantly benefiting GE’s debt position.