Skip to main content

The facade of the GE Building, also known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in New York.BRENDAN MCDERMID/Reuters

Comcast Corp. on Tuesday said it would buy General Electric Co.' s remaining 49 per cent equity stake in their NBCUniversal joint venture for about $16.7-billion (U.S.), speeding up a deal that had not been expected until at least late 2014.

Analysts said Comcast was getting a good deal at that price, while Comcast's chief executive said the company moved because it was eager to take control of the business sooner than planned.

Comcast bought 51 per cent of NBCUniversal in 2011 after winning antitrust approval from the Justice Department. The transaction created a $30-billion business that includes broadcast, cable networks, movie studios and theme parks.

"Pretty much in our opinion given that media stocks have gone up quite a bit, it's a very attractive price, a fair price because we had a formula buyout," Comcast chairman and chief executive officer Brian Roberts said in an interview. "We feel many good things coming today and in the future and we wanted to get 100 per cent of that for our shareholders."

In addition to the main deal, NBCUniversal will also buy from GE Capital the properties it uses at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., for about $1.4-billion.

Comcast said it would fund the deal with $11.4-billion of cash on hand, $4-billion in senior unsecured notes to be issued to GE, $2-billion in credit facility borrowings and the issuance of $725-million in subsidiary preferred stock to GE.

Separately, Comcast said it would increase its dividend by 20 per cent and that it would buy back $2-billion in stock this year. GE also said it would accelerate its own share buy-back program to $10-billion this year.

"It's an attractive price – Comcast is getting a good deal," Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan said.

Interact with The Globe