The Deal
Sunday, November 8, 
6:57 am

NBC teams with Blackstone & Bain to win Weather Channel for $3.5B

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The forecast is bright and sunny for Landmark Communications Inc. as announced an agreement to sell the Weather Channel for $3.5 billion to NBC Universal and private equity firms The Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC. Announced on Sunday, terms of the deal were not released but published reports have an undisclosed source revealing the purchase price.

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Also on Dealscape

NBC and its private equity partners reportedly offered $3.5 billion for the unit in early-June. The size of the ownership stakes between NBC, Blackstone and Bain were not disclosed, but NBC will provide management to run the Weather Channel. The NBC Universal-led consortium was the last party standing after Time Warner Inc. withdrew from the auction in mid-June. Time Warner dropped out because of concerns on price, but Landmark was unable to get the close to the $5 billion some observers thought it might command at the start of the process. The seven-month old auction is only the start for privately held Landmark, which has said it  was exploring the sale of all its businesses, including interests in cable programming, newspapers, broadcasting, specialty classified advertising products, interactive marketing and broadband and data services. - George White

See press release
See AP story
See Dealscape post on early bids
See The Deal.com story on the auction
See Auction Block page on the Weather Channel




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