The deal, which was set to be announced Thursday morning, calls for the nation's biggest cable TV provider to spend $6.5 billion in cash and contribute cable channels worth $7.25 billion for a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal. That is according to people familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been made public.
The new NBC Universal also is expected to borrow $9.1 billion - part of which will be used to cover the $5.8 billion that GE is giving to Vivendi SA. General Electric Co. had to buy Vivendi's 20 percent stake in NBC Universal before selling a controlling interest in the movie and TV company to Comcast Corp.
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Stephen Manning reported from Washington.
