The Comcast-NBC Mega-Deal Moves Forward

According to the New York Times, General Electric (GE) is one step closer to handing over NBC Universal to Comcast (CMCSA). The firm has “reached a tentative agreement” with French media company Vivendi to buy its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. This step was crucial in order for GE to move the larger deal forward, the paper explains, “It removes one of the few remaining hurdles in its plan to sell control of the television and movie company to Comcast in a $30 billion agreement that reflects the changing landscape of broadcast television. While a deal between G.E. and Comcast still could hit a snag over the final price, it is considered highly likely: G.E. wants to sell NBC because of rising losses, and Comcast wants to buy it to control more of the television programs and movies that flow through its cable systems.” The Times likens the proposed deal to AOL’s takeover of Time Warner (TWX) and hints that it could be just as disastrous. The Los Angeles Times says not to worry; all of this “won’t happen overnight” anyway. The paper says, “The deal is expected to undergo a lengthy regulatory review, perhaps a year or longer, before the two companies are allowed to combine.”

A recent report says that the reserves at American International Group (AIG) are worryingly low. The New York Times recaps the study that found “a shortfall of $11.9 billion” in the insurer’s property and casualty business. These findings suggest that the firm that’s been propped up by taxpayer support time and again has unresolved problems that extend beyond its notoriously troublesome derivatives portfolio. The paper notes that the author of the report “said inadequate reserves could prompt regulators to penalize A.I.G., or customers to flee.”

Dubai World has finally spoken up, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper says: “Dubai World broke six days of market-roiling silence early Tuesday morning, saying it was negotiating to restructure $26 billion in debt and anticipated a deal quickly. … In the statement, Dubai World said about $6 billion of the debt involved sukuk, or Islamic bonds, issued by the state-owned conglomerate, and it asked holders of the sukuk to appoint representatives as a first step in a restructuring effort.” Meanwhile, the New York Times offers a retrospective on what went wrong in Dubai, calling it “a financial mirage in the desert” and pointing out warning signs that perhaps should have been easy to pick up on.

A potentially record-setting number of deal-seekers flocked to online retail sites promoting Cyber Monday sales yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The paper says: “About 700 e-commerce sites offered bargains on Monday in partnership with Shop.org, a trade group that coined the term several years ago after noticing a spike in online sales as Americans returned to the office -- and its high-speed Internet connections -- after the Black Friday weekend. The group said it anticipated 96.5 million shoppers to log on Monday, which would be a record.” But even strong sales figures from e-tailers won’t bring much cheer this month, Bloomberg says. “Online retail sales are still the vast minority of total holiday sales,” an analyst explains in the article. “Being such a small number, the results aren’t going to change overall sales this holiday at all.”

The Journal reports that a painful contraction in the U.S. steel industry is “quietly” taking place. The paper says, “Plants that were spared liquidation and changed hands through past recessions are shutting down in a bid to create a smaller, more efficient industry. Leading the move is ArcelorMittal (AMSYF) which bought out a multiplant U.S. producer a few years ago and figures it can do more with less by running fewer plants at higher capacity.” The firm’s chief executive says that it’s downplaying its U.S .investments and setting its sights on emerging countries instead. The paper points out that steel production in the United States is up from last year but still nothing to brag about. It says, “As of Saturday the nation's steel plants were operating at 63% capacity compared to 51% capacity at the same point in 2008.”

And finally, khaki-pants purveyor Dockers is about to redefine its image in a splashy new ad campaign, the New York Times reports. The paper says: “To try to freshen its appeal, Dockers will be reintroduced in a campaign scheduled to begin Tuesday with radio, print, poster and online advertising. Television commercials are planned to start in February, when the brand is to return to the Super Bowl after an eight-year hiatus.” The company is targeting the young male customer demographic that it captured in the ‘90s but has since slipped away. The Dockers president told the NYT why he thinks its time for men to get back to the basics. He says: “There’s an opportunity to introduce the khaki category in a big way to a younger consumer, a 25-to-35-year-old who wants to act, feel and look like a grown-up.”