In early 2014, Charter Communications attempted a buyout of Time Warner Cable, leading the way for Comcast to swoop in with a rival offer. A year and a half later, the tables appear to have turned in Charter's favor.
Bloomberg today reported that Charter Communications Inc. is on the verge of announcing a buyout of Time Warner Cable in a deal estimated to be worth $55.1 billion equity in cash and stock.
According to the usual "people familiar with the matter," Charter will cough up $195 per share for Time Warner, a 14 percent bump from TWC's closing price last Friday; shareholders would receive $100 in cash and the remainder in Charter stock.
The deal would put the fourth-placed US cable company in charge of the nation's second-place rival following a failed bid by Comcast that collapsed under regulatory scrutiny last month.
Jacked in
Sources claim the deal could be announced "as soon as tomorrow," creating a combined entity that would also include Bright House Networks, a smaller cable company Charter is already attempting to purchase for $10.4 billion.
The deals come at a time when traditional cable services are under increasing pressure to expand internet offerings as content providers continue to offer more content directly to media streaming boxes, smartphones and tablets.
With the purchase of Time Warner Cable, Charter would effectively quadruple the number of subscribers, adding more than 12 million customers in lucrative cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Dallas.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently signaled that a combined Charter-Time Warner had a better shot at being approved by regulators than Comcast-TWC did, which certainly couldn't hurt while making wedding plans.
