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By MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 7/11/2011 12:01:00 AM

NBCU Completes Parks Deal

NEW YORK — NBCUniversal said it has completed its previously announced acquisition of The Blackstone Group’s 50% interest in its Universal Orlando theme park for an estimated $1 billion.

The purchase price was funded with cash on hand, borrowings under NBCUniversal’s existing credit facility and a one-year $250 million note to NBCUniversal from an affiliate of Comcast, which owns a controlling interest in the NBCU joint venture. NBCUniversal and its affiliates now own 100% of Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal City- Walk, which are located at Universal Orlando Resort.

Scripps Authorizes $1B Buyback

KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Scripps Networks Interactive said its board of directors has authorized a $1 billion stock-repurchase plan, a move that has effectively squelched speculation that the programmer was on the auction block.

As part of the program, Scripps Networks said it would repurchase about 6.4 million shares from the Edward W. Scripps Trust for about $300 million. The remaining $700 million authorization will be used to repurchase shares on the open market over time.

Scripps had fueled speculation that it would be sold earlier in June when it filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission preparing for the dissolution of the trust after the death of Edward W. Scripps’ last living grandchild, who is 93 years old. But analysts said that the trust’s decision to sell off some of its stock was an indication that an outright sale of the company was not in the cards.

In a statement, SNI chairman and CEO Ken Lowe said the repurchase program “demonstrates our faith in the financial strength of our lifestyle media businesses and the company’s ability to generate strong free cash flow.” The trust will remain the company’s single largest shareholder with about 26% of its outstanding shares.

Charter Agrees to James Cable Swap

ST. LOUIS — Charter Communications has agreed to swap small cable systems in Georgia and Alabama with small rural cable operator James Cable in a transaction involving about 15,000 customers.

Charter will trade its Douglas, Ga., system with about 5,500 customers to James in an even exchange for James properties surrounding Eatonton, Ga., and Roanoke and Gu-Win, Ala., with about 9,500 subscribers. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

This would be the third deal for Charter in four months – in June it agreed to purchase 16,000 customers in Missouri from US Cable and in March it agreed to buy systems with 17,000 subscribers in Alabama and Georgia from Windjammer Communications.

After the close of this deal and certain other pending transactions, Charter will have more than 500,000 customers in Georgia and Alabama.

James Cable, which operates many of its systems under the CommuniCom names, passes about 133,000 homes in rural parts of Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama and Wyoming.

Britt Gains $1.6M From Stock Sale

New York — Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Glenn Britt realized a $1.6 million profit by exercising stock options earlier last month, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the document filed June 16, Britt acquired 39,968 shares of Time Warner Cable stock on June 15 at $34.24 per share. He then sold 11,200 shares at $75.06 each and 28,768 shares at $74.26 each later that day. All together Britt spent $1.37 million to acquire the stock and sold it for $2.98 million, realizing an overall profit of about $1.6 million.

The transaction was part of a 10b5-1 plan that Britt initiated in July 2010, which automatically exercises options and sells stock based on prearranged criteria. Holders of 10b5-1 trading plans have no knowledge of when trades will be made, which shields them from any hint of insider trading violations. Most executives at publicly traded companies have adopted 10b5-1 trading programs.

Time Warner Cable stock has been on a run lately — it is up 21% or $13.94 per share since January.