U.S. OKs Sale of RCA to GE

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s antitrust division today cleared the way for General Electric Co. to buy RCA, the parent of NBC, for $6.28 billion, despite objections to one small part of the transaction.

It would be the largest non-oil acquisition in U.S. history. The department said it believes the purchase would violate a section of the Clayton Act because one portion of GE’s business is in the production and sale of vidicons, a type of electron tube used in TV cameras. GE, however, has agreed to divest its vidicon business soon, it said.