Comcast to buy GE's 49 pct stake in NBCUniversal

Photo - FILE - This combination of Associated Press file photos shows, left, a sign outside the Comcast Center in Philadelphia in July 2010 and right, the entrance to the Universal Studios theme park in Los Angeles, on Dec. 3, 2009. Comcast said on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, that it's buying General Electric's 49 percent stake in NBCUniversal joint venture for $16.7 billion. Comcast Corp. had bought a majority stake in the television and movie company in 2011. It had planned to take a larger stake in it over time. (AP Photo) — FILE - This combination of Associated Press file photos shows, left, a sign outside the Comcast Center in Philadelphia in July 2010 and right, the entrance to the Universal Studios theme park in Los Angeles, on Dec. 3, 2009. Comcast said on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, that it's buying General Electric's 49 percent stake in NBCUniversal joint venture for $16.7 billion. Comcast Corp. had bought a majority stake in the television and movie company in 2011. It had planned to take a larger stake in it over time. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast says it's buying General Electric's 49 percent stake in the NBCUniversal joint venture for $16.7 billion. It comes several years early, as Comcast takes advantage of low borrowing costs and what CEO Brian Roberts calls a "very attractive price."

Comcast Corp. had bought a majority stake in the television and movie company in 2011. It had planned to take a larger stake in it over seven years, paying for it from operating cash.

But Roberts told The Associated Press that the sale of its stake in pay TV network A&E and some wireless spectrum gave it plenty of cash on hand. He also says Comcast got a good deal given that the stock price of media conglomerates has been rising.

Comcast had bought a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal, home of the NBC television network, from General Electric Co. for $13.8 billion in cash and assets. It came after the government approved Comcast's takeover of NBCUniversal with conditions intended to prevent it from keeping NBC programming to itself at the detriment of other cable operators and video websites.