Charter and Comcast to Swap Cable Customers in Key Markets
Posted in: Uncategorized
Charter Communications Inc. reached an agreement to take control of 3.9 million more cable-TV customers, helping Comcast Corp. ease the approval process for its merger with Time Warner Cable Inc.
In the first step of today’s three-part agreement, Charter said it will buy 1.4 million Time Warner Cable customers for $7.3 billion after the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable closes. Charter will also form a holding company to acquire a 33% stake in a spinoff from Comcast that will pick up 2.5 million Comcast customers. The companies will also swap 1.6 million customers apiece.
The arrangement could help Philadelphia-based Comcast appease critics of the $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable by reducing the combined company’s market share to less than 30 percent. After Comcast thwarted Charter’s earlier attempt to acquire Time Warner Cable, Charter is also saving face with today’s transaction that will make it the second-largest U.S. cable operator.
Post a Comment