[opendtv] Comcast agrees to buy Time Warner Cable
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 07:16:51 -0500
This could get interesting.
Is this, as Bert might contend, "the mating of dinosaurs," or is Comcast
bulking up for the bigger war to come with Verizon and AT&T?
Regards
Craig
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/comcast-buying-time-warner-cable-for-452-billion-2014-02-13?link=MW_story_popular
By Shalini Ramachandran and Dana Cimilluca
Comcast Corp. has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion in stock, a
deal that would combine the nation’s two biggest cable operators, according to
people familiar with the situation.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which will be announced
Thursday morning, one of the people said.
With the proposed deal, Comcast CMCSA +0.44% almost certainly ends an eight
month takeover battle for TWC TWC +0.30% waged by fourth-biggest cable operator
Charter Communications Inc. CHTR -0.24% and its biggest shareholder, Liberty
MediaCorp. LMCA +0.87% , whose chairman is cable pioneer John Malone.
By negotiating the merger, Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts ensures his
dominance of the U.S. cable industry will be maintained. But the transaction
would face lengthy regulatory review.
In the deal, Time Warner Cable shareholders will receive $158.82 a share in
stock for their shares, about $23 a share above where TWC has been trading.
Charter has made three offers, the most recent of which was valued at $132.50,
all of which were rejected by TWC as too low. Time Warner Cable Chief Executive
Rob Marcus had said TWC wanted $160 a share.Charter’s pursuit of TWC, which
began after Liberty bought a 27% stake in Charter about a year ago, had raised
the possibility that Malone would emerge as a rival to Roberts. Malone once led
the U.S. cable industry but sold his previous cable firm, Tele-Communications
Inc. in 1999.
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