GE says "comfortable" with NBC Universal

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - General Electric chief executive Jeff Immelt on Tuesday said he was "totally OK" with keeping control of NBC Universal, the TV and movie entertainment house now reportedly a takeover target for top U.S. cable operator Comcast.

Immelt told tech industry executives and investors he liked NBC Universal and was comfortable with it, amid speculation that GE was close to sealing a deal to unload a majority stake in the entertainment unit to the cable operator.

He would not comment on whether talks were proceeding, except to say he had not met Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts on Tuesday, despite Roberts having presented at the same tech forum earlier in the day.

Immelt said he had pondered various options for NBC, and whether an initial public offering for the TV and movie entertainment house would make sense. But he added that GE now has to consider whether it can forge new partnerships to help drive NBC, the nation's fourth-largest network after falling steadily through the rankings.

Some analysts say NBC Universal -- which also builds theme parks -- is an incongruous asset in a General Electric portfolio that spans aircraft engines and power turbines, among other industrial arms.

Beyond NBC, Immelt said the U.S. economy was now going through the typical phases of recovery. He was upbeat on renewable energy forming the basis of one of the "real growth industries of the next decade".

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta and Ian Sherr)