- Credit Markets on Edge About When Fed Will Raise Rates
- Bove: Expect Goldman To Increase Dividend Meaningfully
- Bullish Sign for Gold: Central Banks Are Big Buyers
- Victoria's Secret Hopes to Rekindle Desire for Lingerie
- High Roller Sues Harrah's for Lost Millions
- Wall Street Jobs Slow to Return Despite Record Profits
- Big Shareholders Ask Goldman to Cut Bonuses: Report
- Buying an Expensive House? Government Can Help
- Review: What It's Like to Drive the New Chevy Volt
- How Stock Investors Can Play Holiday Travel
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Hirschhorn: Greed...or Fear
- My Top 10 Tech Toys for the Holidays
- iPhone a Better Gaming Platform Than Android?
- May Day For Dendreon
- 100% Mortgage Financing From USDA
- Holiday Tipping: Who And How Much
- Deep Discounts Should Make It a Very Tech-y Holiday
MOST SHARED
- Nielsen Ratings Coming to Video Games
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Oil Next Week
- The Week Ahead
- 'New Moon' Midnight Showings Earn Record $26.3 Million
- Twilight, Inc., A Worldwide Craze
- Hot Topics at TEDMED
- Bove: Expect Goldman To Increase Dividend Meaningfully
- Hershey Mulls $17 Billion Bid for Cadbury: Source
- Confessions of a Black Friday Shopper
Text Size 
Comcast and General Electric have agreed to make NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker the head of their proposed joint venture, but the structure of a new board is still being negotiated, sources familiar with the matter said.
 |
Jeff Zucker |
The two sides have been in talks to reach a deal that would give Comcast [CMCSA
Loading...
()
] a 51 percent stake in the NBC Universal venture, which would also house the cable networks now belonging to Comcast. They recently agreed to value NBC Universal at about $30 billion, sources previously told Reuters.
CNBC is a unit of NBC Universal.
Under the terms being discussed, Zucker will lead the new entity, with no clauses for him to leave after a specific period, the sources said Tuesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not been made public.
As part of the proposal, NBC Universal would become a joint venture, 51 percent owned by Comcast and 49 percent by GE [GE
Loading...
()
].
Comcast would contribute around $4 billion to $6 billion in cash, as well as its collection of cable networks to pay for its stake.
There has been a lot of speculation about who will head the new company, especially since Peter Chernin — the former president of News Corp [NWS
Loading...
()
] — has been advising Comcast.
The sources said Zucker would be chief executive, but no decisions had been made on what role Chernin might play, if any.
Last week, Comcast and GE agreed on the valuation for NBC Universal, ironing out what had been a key obstacle in talks so far, but issues about board structure remain, the sources said.
Another issue still unresolved: French media conglomerate Vivendi, which owns 20 percent of NBC Universal, has not yet agreed to a deal, the sources said. GE owns the remaining 80 percent.
Every year between mid-November and mid-December, Vivendi has to decide whether to exercise its "put" option to sell its NBC Universal stake.
This year, Vivendi is eager to dispose of its stake, which it acquired as part of a 2004 deal to create NBC Universal, and is negotiating the valuation with GE, sources have said previously.
Vivendi, whose stake would be bought out entirely, is still in talks with GE and is determined to get the best value for its investment, sources have said.
Those talks are progressing, but "going slow," one of the sources said.
- Technology can make or break a fortune in the world of alternative energy.
- Many people are facing the holidays with substantially smaller incomes. Here’s how some are adapting.
- Jim Cramer is a proponent of stocks that pay healthy dividends, and here are his top five dividend plays.
- From salt, to lip balm to envelopes, it turns out that bacon flavoring can sell almost anything.
- The homebuyer's tax credit jacked sales for a while, but 2010 is looking weak. Now what?
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes