It’s official: Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) will acquire a 65 percent stake in the Travel Channel from Cox Communications. The deal works like this: the two companies form a joint venture; Cox puts in the Travel Channel, valued at $975 million; Scripps contributes $181 million in cash; the JV borrows $878 million which will be guaranteed by Scripps and indemnified by Cox; Scripps controls the network. The net debt for the JV should wind up at about $696 million. The companies hope to close the deal by January.

Scripps is delaying its earnings report—and executive availability—by a day; it will report before the market opens Friday and hold the call at 10 a.m. ET. Cox Release. Scripps Release.

Update: I initially made the mistake of adding the cash and borrow amounts together, coming up with a wrong number for the deal. But the right number for this leveraged JV depends a lot on perspective. With the Travel Channel as an asset valued at $975 million, Scripps’ share would be worth about $634 million; Cox’s at $341 million. That same split would follow for the debt—Scripps’ share would be about $452 million, Cox’s would be about $243 million. But even though Scripps will own only 65 percent, it’s on the hook for 100 percent of the debt as the guarantor—and the debt will be higher than the value of its share.