Tag Archives: General Electric
FCC To Allow Comcast-NBC Merger If Show Exclusivity Stops On Hulu

In December 2009 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) made a deal to acquire NBC from General Electric. This deal is facing scrutiny from the government. The FCC said that one of the proposed conditions if they allow the deal to take place is that NBC would no longer have the exclusive rights to their shows on the Internet. This means that Hulu would not be the only web video service that has the rights to stream NBC shows. The three owners in Hulu are NBC, ABC, and FOX. [AllThingsD]
GE Buys Out Opal Software

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) has acquired Opal Software, a company that designs engineering software for electric, gas, and water utilities. Opal’s software can quickly migrate data between multiple platforms. GE software can also be integrated into non-GE systems using Opal’s software.
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Vivendi Sells 20% NBC Stake To GE For $2 Billion

French media company Vivendi has sold its stake in NBC to G.E. for $2 billion. Vivendi had owned 20% of the broadcasting company. After Comcast completes its acquisition of NBC, Vivendi will sell the remaining 12.34% it owns to G.E. for $3.8 billion. Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said that the company can use the sale of NBC to buy 100% of telecommunications operator company SFR. Vivendi owns 56% of SFR. [NYT]
GE Buying $325 Million Worth Of Ads From NBC Over Next 5 Years

Comcast may be the new majority shareholder in NBC, but General Electric has promised to buy about $345 million worth of ads from the TV network over the next 5 years. About $59 million will be spent each year, adding up to the $345 million. GE will also buy $50 million worth of 2012 Olympic Games ads. NBC owns the rights to the 2012 Olympic Games broadcast. The financial details of this transaction was revealed on an SEC filing.
Last year, GE spent $1.2 billion for advertising and most of that went towards marketing NBC Universal movies. The filing also revealed that Comcast cannot sell its stake for at least four years and GE cannot sell its stake for at least 3.5 years. After that period of time, Comcast will have the right to buy out NBC completely.
Comcast agreed to pay $6.5 billion in cash along with $7.25 billion in assets to gain control of NBC. The whole deal was valued at about $30 billion.
General Electric Selling Control of NBC To Comcast, Deal Valued At $30 Billion

Comcast Corporation and General Electric has entered an agreement that would give Comcast the controlling interest in NBC Universal Inc. Comcast is paying $6.5 billion in cash and the cable company agreed NBC to maintain its editorial independence for NBC News. Comcast is also currently negotiating buying NBC Universal as a whole. To appease shareholders further, Comcast agreed to pay the annual cash dividend to 40% which is almost $0.38 per share next year.
Comcast said that the merger makes them “strategically complete.” Comcast said that the reason why for buying NBC was because the network owned highly profitable TV channels such as USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, and Syfy. Comcast will own 51% of NBC. The deal values NBC at about $30 billion.
“This deal is a perfect fit for us,” stated Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. “We are honored that under this agreement Comcast would take over stewardship of this important collection of assets and are absolutely committed to investing in NBCU and ensuring that it is a vibrant, financially strong company able to thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace by delivering innovative programming.”
Peacock Equity (Joint NBC/General Electric Fund) Invests In 4INFO
“4INFO clearly fits Peacock Equity’s strategic funding objectives: it has a market-leading position within a high-growth sector and it has an exiting community of users accustomed to receiving customized, ad-supported content in text messages,â€
-Peacock Equity’s Tom Byrne
Peacock Equity, created by GE Commercia Finance, GE Media Communications & Entertainment and NBC Universal is a $250 million global fund that invests in media and tech companies. The company recently announced that NBC Universal will take a stake in 4INFO, a San Mateo, Calif.-based company that focuses on SMS advertising. 4INFO gives access to real-time sports, business, entertainment, travel, and local information. 4INFO also provides celebrity, weather, horoscopes, stock quotes, craigslist.com listings, and health tips. The investment made by Peacock will be used to help 4INFO build a solid ad platform. 4INFO will also become NBC’s preferred mobile ad provider.
“4INFO clearly fits Peacock Equity’s strategic funding objectives: it has a market-leading position within a high-growth sector and it has an exiting community of users accustomed to receiving customized, ad-supported content in text messages,†stated Peacock Equity’s Tom Byrne. “Mobile advertising will be a multi-billion dollar industry in the next few years as more progressive content providers and advertisers like NBC Universal realize its potential to engage audiences with targeted, measurable messages.”
Other investors in 4INFO include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, U.S. Venture Partners, and Gannett. 4INFO’s blog is available at: http://4info.typepad.com/blog/.



