Vivendi sells stake in NBC Universal to GE

French group Vivendi said yesterday it had sold its remaining 12.34 per cent stake in US media firm NBC Universal to General Electric for €2.8 billion.

“Vivendi has concluded, on January 25, the sale of the remainder of its stake in NBC Universal, a 12.34 per cent stake, for $3.8 billion to GE,” the company said in a statement.

The sale was made under a December 2009 deal between the two companies in which Vivendi agreed to sell all of its 20 per cent stake in NBC Universal to General Electric once Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal was approved by US regulators.

US authorities gave the green light Tuesday to Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal; the deal would give the cable giant a media and entertainment empire to rival The Walt Disney Co.

Vivendi said in September it had sold a 7.66 stake in NBC Universal to General Electric for $2 billion.

Vivendi received the $5.8 billion for its total stake in NBC Universal in cash. “The company is now “fully focused on pursuing its profitable growth strategy”