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Charter Communications nears $55bn deal for Time Warner Cable

Another major merger is imminent in the US, this time in the cable and broadband industry. Time W...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.14 26 May 2015


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Charter Communications nears $...

Charter Communications nears $55bn deal for Time Warner Cable

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.14 26 May 2015


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Another major merger is imminent in the US, this time in the cable and broadband industry. Time Warner, the country’s second largest operator, is close to being acquired by the third largest firm, Charter Communications, for about $55bn.

A deal would create a major rival to Comcast, the biggest operator in the US, which was recently prevented by regulators from acquiring Time Warner after one year of negotiations.

The planned deal reveals the increasing influence of billionaire John Malone in the consolidating cable and telecommunications market. Liberty Broadband, Charter’s largest shareholder, is owned by Malone who recently mooted the merits of a merger involving Liberty and Vodafone’s European networks.

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Charter will also acquire the smaller Bright House Networks. Collectively, they will have 18.8m broadband Internet subscribers and about 17m TV subscribers - still short of Comcast's 22m TV subscribers.

Charter must still face the same challenge as Comcast before it - proving that the purchase is not anti-competitive - and it is expected to argue it would become a counterweight to Comcast, which has become an American byword word consumer-unfriendly behaviour.

In a recent study, it was identified as the US' eight most disliked company, though Charter comes immediately after in ninth.


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