Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Comcast Corp. and General Electric Co., in discussions over the sale of GE’s NBC Universal division, agreed to value the unit at about $30 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Vivendi SA, which owns 20 percent of NBC Universal, isn’t yet part of the agreement, according to one of the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations aren’t public.

Comcast is negotiating to buy 51 percent of a venture that would include the NBC Universal entertainment assets if Vivendi agrees to sell, people familiar with the matter said last month. Paris-based Vivendi has an annual option to sell its stake in NBC between Nov. 15 and Dec. 10. Vivendi is in “no hurry” to exercise its option, Simon Gillham, vice president of communications, said in a Nov. 3 interview.

Gary Sheffer, a GE spokesman, and John Demming, a Comcast spokesman, both declined comment. Vivendi’s Gillham didn’t immediately return an e-mail seeking comment outside regular business hours.

Comcast would contribute $4 billion to $6 billion plus cable channels including E! Entertainment, said one of the people. GE would contribute its 80 percent stake in NBC Universal, one person said.

Company Strategies

The structure being discussed would allow Comcast to buy cable programming that Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts has targeted as a priority for acquisitions. GE would retreat from a business that some analysts have urged Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt to divest because it doesn’t fit with the parent’s industrial, finance and health-care focus. Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy has described NBC Universal as “non-core” and has made acquisitions in other areas.

GE and Comcast are looking to finish an agreement within the next two weeks, and the resulting entity would have a net $9 billion in debt, one of the people said. Last week, Comcast and GE met with debt-rating companies to ensure that the debt the new venture would take on wouldn’t put the new entity below investment grade, said people familiar with the matter. Both companies want the venture to be investment grade. The deal, upon closing, may take as long as a year to pass U.S. regulatory approval, said the people.

The venture would pay Vivendi over time, using cash generated from operations, one of the people said. Comcast could do the deal without jeopardizing its dividend or share repurchases, said the person. Comcast has the option to buy out GE’s minority stake at 3.5-year and 7-year intervals, people with knowledge of the discussions said.

Comcast, based in Philadelphia, rose 39 cents to $14.59 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Nov. 6. Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE advanced 90 cents to $15.33 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Vivendi fell 4 cents to 19.29 euros in Paris trading.

The NBC Universal valuation was reported earlier today by the Wall Street Journal.

To contact the reporters on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net; Brett Pulley in New York at bpulley@bloomberg.net; Kelly Riddell in Washington at kriddell1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 21:30 EST