Comcast Plays Game Of 2 Halves

General Electric appears to be heading for the exits at NBC Universal. But it may take a long while to completely leave the building. The fine print of any deal will be even more important than usual. Much has been made of the possibility that Comcast could get 51% of NBC Universal for a relatively small cash outlay of $4 billion to $6 billion by also contributing assets of a similar value. But at some point Comcast will want full ownership of NBC Universal. That could cost another $12 billion or so, making the true cash cost significantly higher than it now appears. If Comcast wants to buy the rest of NBC Universal, a more-attractive option would be for Comcast to use cash generated by NBC Universal to buy back General Electric's stock over time, perhaps after some portion of the $10 billion to $12 billion in debt expected to be loaded onto NBCU is paid down. One disadvantage of this arrangement is that it would probably mean Comcast gets no cash out of NBCU for some time to come.