NBC Universal, partners to buy Weather Channel

By Jessica Hall

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - NBC Universal and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group said on Sunday they agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.

Terms of the widely expected deal were not disclosed, but sources familiar with the transaction said the price tag was just under $3.5 billion.

Privately held Landmark, which put The Weather Channel up for sale along with other businesses, originally had sought $5 billion for the unit, which produces national, regional and local weather-related programming, sources previously said.

The transaction includes the Weather Channel Networks cable network and the Weather Channel's website. The Weather Channel will continue to operate as an independent business managed by NBC Universal.

The $3.5 billion price tag on Weather Channel marked one of the biggest private equity deals in the past year. In May, Carlyle Group agreed to buy a majority stake in a unit of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton for $2.5 billion, and Blackstone Group last month said it would buy Apria Healthcare Group Inc for $1.6 billion.

NBC Universal, which is part of General Electric Co, would add The Weather Channel to its other news and information assets, which include NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, and their affiliated websites.

"This is premier media asset with a unique position across all three screens -- television, PC, and mobile -- and exciting growth prospects in each of them," said Michael Chae, Blackstone Group's senior managing director.

The Weather Channel is the third most distributed cable network and is viewable in more than 97 percent of cable television homes in the United States. Its website, www.weather.com, has nearly 40 million unique visitors per month.