Vivendi Wants to Exit NBC, Deal Is Complex

Vivendi SA would like to sell its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal and has to make a decision in the next three weeks on a transaction that could be "complex," Chief Financial Officer Philippe Capron said. Vivendi's decision is key to plans by General Electric Co., owner of the rest of NBC Universal, to form a venture with Comcast Corp., which would own a majority of a new entity combining NBC Universal assets with its own. Under terms agreed to when Vivendi and NBC combined assets in 2004, Vivendi can choose to sell between Nov. 15 and Dec. 10 each year to 2016. Vivendi Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Levy has called the NBC Universal stake "non-core" and has said he wants to expand in emerging markets. Vivendi may still walk away from a possible sale of the stake this year as the GE-Comcast transaction complicates matters, Capron said today.