General Electric, the American conglomerate, and Vivendi, the French media group, have struck a deal that opens the way for the NBC Universal entertainment group to be sold to Comcast, the American cable operator.

The long-awaited deal values Vivendi’s 20 per cent stake in NBC Universal at $5.8 billion (£3.5 billion), according to people familiar with the talks.

The deal would clear the way for the creation of a huge new media group that would include the flagship NBC television network, valued at about $30 billion and controlled by Comcast. It is already America’s largest cable company, with 25 million television subscribers, 15 million internet users and 6.4 million telephone customers.

By combining NBC Universal’s television networks, film studio and theme parks with its own cable channels, Comcast would gain better access to the programming and film content consumed by its cable customers and would be able to expand its video-on-demand operations.

Under the terms of the deal, Comcast, which will own 51 per cent of the new NBC Universal, will contribute an agreed amount of cash, thought to be $5 billion. GE initially will own 49 per cent of the new company, but will wind down its holding over a period of seven years.

The new company, which will not include Comcast’s cable distribution operations, will carry about $9 billion in debt. The borrowings will be used to buy out the GE and Vivendi stakes and will be paid down with cash from operations.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be announced tomorrow.

GE is understood to have agreed to make a payment of up to $2 billion to Vivendi if the Comcast transaction does not close by the end of 2010.

Valuing Comcast’s cable networks, Vivendi’s 20 per cent stake in NBC Universal and the proposed new company itself had been a central issue in negotiations between the two companies for some weeks. Agreement was finally reached after a meeting in France last week of Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s chief executive, and Jean-Bernard Lévy, the Vivendi chief.

The sale would give GE, America’s largest conglomerate, a welcome cash injection. It has owned NBC Universal since the 1986 acquisition of RCA and has expanded it through the acquisitions of Bravo and Telemundo, and the 2004 transaction with Vivendi, which brought theme parks, a film studio and cable networks. However, GE, whose products range from jet engines to microwave ovens, has been under pressure from many of its shareholders to offload NBC Universal. Its media and leisure businesses are considered misfits among its otherwise mostly industrial operations.

NBC Universal reported a 27 per cent fall in profit for the nine months to September 30. The company’s television stations have been hit by a steep drop in advertising revenue, and Universal Pictures has been struggling at the box office.

The Universal Studios theme parks in Florida, California and Japan have suffered as a result of the depressed economy.

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