LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Comcast said Tuesday that it’s buying the rest of NBCUniversal from General Electric for $16.7 billion, doing so several years early as the cable TV provider takes advantage of low borrowing costs and what CEO Brian Roberts called a “very attractive price.”

At the same time, Comcast Corp. raised its annual dividend 20 per cent to 78 cents per share and vowed to buy back $2 billion in shares this year. It is also buying NBCUniversal’s headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York and the CNBC headquarters in New Jersey for another $1.4 billion.

Investors thought the move was good for both companies — GE because it got cash for its stake earlier than expected and Comcast because it will benefit more from the rising price of rights to sports and other TV programs. With the NBCUniversal businesses, Comcast avoids solely being in the uncomfortable position of passing those costs onto consumers.

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