Comcast-NBC deal pushed into the new year

From CNET News.com: Comcast today said its proposed deal to acquire control of General Electric's NBC Universal won't get regulatory approval by the end of the year, as the company had hoped.

The cable giant issued a statement saying that even though the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice have made "substantial progress toward approval," it simply doesn't have enough time this year to complete the transaction, which was announced at the end of 2009.
"Because of the lead time required to prepare for a close, it now appears that we will not be able to close the transaction with GE relating to NBC Universal by year-end," Sena Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Comcast, said in a statement. "We have notified our transition teams that there will not be a December 31 closing."

Comcast believes that the review process is on track for the deal to close in January 2011. Reuters reported that NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker, who will leave the company, once the deal is complete, sent a memo to staff on Wednesday reiterating Comcast's hope that the deal will close in January.

The company announced its plans to buy NBC Universal from General Electric a year ago this month. The deal would create a media giant worth about $37 billion, combining Comcast's cable channels and NBC's television, movie, and theme park assets.

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