Moody's ups Comcast, could up NBCUniversal

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Comcast Corp.'s senior unsecured debt ratings to A3 from Baa1 and placed NBCUniversal Media, LLC's ratings on review for upgrade.

Moody's said the actions follow Comcast's announced agreement to acquire the remaining 49% stake in NBCUniversal that it does not own from General Electric Co. The announcement represents an acceleration from Comcast's original agreement with GE to acquire the rest of NBCUniversal in equal parts in 2014 and 2018.

The upgrade of Comcast's ratings and review for upgrade of NBCUniversal's ratings reflects the expectation that the company will simplify the two separate capital structures by putting in place cross guarantees between debt at NBCUniversal and Comcast and its subsidiaries that have outstanding debt, thereby consolidating Comcast and NBCUniversal into a single legal credit with equal credit ratings, the agency said.

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