GE to Buy NBC Space in Rockefeller Center for $440 Million
General Electric Co. said Friday that it will pay $440 million to buy the space its NBC unit occupies in Rockefeller Center.
GE struck a deal with an investment group led by Goldman, Sachs & Co., which late last year beat out GE, Walt Disney Co. and real estate investor Sam Zell to take control of the landmark office complex in Manhattan.
The deal announced Friday will give GE 1.6 million square feet of space in Rockefeller Center, or about 20% of the total.
NBC Executive Vice President Michael Sherlock said in a statement that as the center’s largest tenant, NBC wanted to ensure that its investment in its Rockefeller Center space was protected.
A spokesman for the Goldman Sachs group, developer Jerry Speyer, said the investors do not plan to sell any other center properties. NBC leases 28 floors in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, across the street from Rockefeller Center’s famed skating rink. It also leases two adjacent buildings in the complex.
Studios where the network produces shows such as “The NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” are included in the purchase.
The “Today” studio, which is subject to a separate lease, and other GE space in the complex, were not part of the deal. The purchase is subject to city and Bankruptcy Court approval. Rockefeller Center is in Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings.
Its stockholders approved a merger with a group of investors led by David Rockefeller in March. That closing date is now set for May 31. Paul Lief Rosengren, a spokesman for NBC, said NBC is participating in the reorganization.
The Goldman Sachs investment group is backed in part by Speyer, the president of Tishman Speyer Properties Inc., and the family that controls Italian auto maker Fiat.
In December, it beat out the GE-Disney group with an offer valued at $1.13 billion to take over Rockefeller Center Properties Inc.
Rockefeller Center Properties is scheduled to assume ownership of the complex from the partnerships that own it, which have been operating under Bankruptcy Court protection. The complex is 80% owned by Mitsubishi Estate Co. and 20% owned by Rockefeller family trusts.
