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, N.J., 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."
The transactions will be funded with $11.4 billion of cash on hand, $4.0
billion of subsidiary senior unsecured notes to be issued to GE, $2.0
billion of borrowings under Comcast and/or subsidiary bank credit
facilities and $725 million of subsidiary preferred stock to be issued
to GE.
Morgan Stanley was financial advisor to Comcast and Davis Polk &
Wardwell LLP was the Company's legal advisor.
