Comcast to Acquire Remaining 49% Stake from GE at NBC Universal for $16.7 billion (CMCSA, GE)

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), on Tuesday, announced that it will acquire remaining 49% equity stake from General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) in their NBC Universal joint-venture, which it does not already own, for about $16.7 billion.

Earlier in 2011, Comcast bought 51% stake in NBC Universal after it won antitrust approval from the Justice Department.

While Wall Street analysts said that Comcast was getting a good deal for the price, Comcast’s Chief Executive Brian Roberts said that the move was made as the company intends to take total control of the business much sooner than expected.

“Our decision to acquire GE’s ownership is driven by our sense of optimism for the future prospects of NBC Universal,” said Roberts in a statement

Besides this deal, Comcast will also buy GE Capital’s properties it uses at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in the New York City along with CNBC’s headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, for nearly $1.4 billion.

The Company said that it would finance the deal through $11.4 billion cash-in-hand, $4 billion through senior unsecured notes to be issued by GE, $725 million through issuance of subsidiary preferred stock to GE and $2 billion from credit facilities.

Comcast also said on Tuesday that it will hike divided by 20% and repurchase shares worth $2 billion in 2013.

Additionally, Comcast announced its fiscal fourth quarter results on Tuesday.

The Company reported net income of $1.8 billion or 56 cents a share, compared to a profit of $1.56 billion or 47 cents a share.

Revenue during the period rose 6% to $15.94 billion.

The Company said that it lost 7,000 video customers in its cable business, which was much better performance than year-earlier quarter when subscribers’ base shrunk by 17,000. A data compiled by StreetAccount showed that analysts were expecting Comcast to lose 5000 video subscribers.

In the recently concluded quarter, Comcast added 341,000 internet customers, beating analysts’ consensus forecast for 329,000 new additions.

Shares of Comcast climbed 7.13% to $41.75 in aftermarket hours on Tuesday.