NBC, the television unit of General Electric, is consolidating the Internet assets it held with Xoom.com and Snap.com to form a new company, NBC Internet, or NBCi for short, which will be the national network’s exclusive Internet property. NBCi will provide search engine capabilities, e-mail, e-commerce and community interaction.
Xoom is a Web direct marketer and Snap–a joint venture between CNET and NBC–is a content provider. NBC will hold 49.9% of NBCi, which will be publicly traded. CNET and Snap option holders will own a 13% stake, while Xoom will hold a 34% stake.
In addition, NBCi will include NBC.com, Videoseeker.com and a 10% stake in the soon-to-be-launched CNBC.com. The deal excludes MSNBC.com, a general news site NBC owns as a joint venture with Microsoft.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, pending shareholder approval. Bob Wright, NBC president and chief executive, will be chairman of NBCi and Chris Kitze, Xoom chairman, will be president and CEO.
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