NBC Universal Safe From GE Sale Until After '08 Olympics

GE Chair & CEO Jeffrey Immelt "will not consider" selling GE's 80% stake in NBC Universal until after the '08 Beijing Olympics, according to sources cited by Guerrera, Chaffin & Van Duyn in a front-page article for the FINANCIAL TIMES.  The issue "is likely to resurface tomorrow" when GE reports Q3 earnings "that should show signs of improvement at NBC," whose value is estimated around $40B.  The unit had sales of $16.2B and profits of $2.9B last year.  French media group Vivendi, which owns a 20% stake in NBCU, "is not seen as a potential buyer or a long-term owner" of the GE's shares. Vivendi owns the right to ask GE to buy back its stake "or force a listing of NBC."  NBCU President & CEO Jeff Zucker indicated that the recent acquisitions of Oxygen and cable group Sparrowhawk "underlined GE's commitment" to the media company.  Zucker: "It's about performance, and if [NBCU] is performing, I think we'll be here for a long time" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 10/11).