NBC Says FTC Review of Deal Is Not Unusual

General Electric Co.’s NBC unit said a second request for information by U.S. antitrust regulators about its planned purchase of Vivendi Universal’s U.S. entertainment assets was part of a normal review process.

NBC was responding to an article in USA Today that said the Federal Trade Commission was concerned that the combined company might boost fees paid by cable operators to license programming.

“We are in the middle of a normal regulatory review process,” NBC spokeswoman Hilary Smith said in an e-mail. “A second request for information is a standard part of that practice.” New York-based NBC expects the merger to close in the first half of this year, Smith said.

From Bloomberg News