Charter Communications (CHTR) is nearing agreement to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $ 195 a share in a cash and stock deal valued at approximately $ 55 billion, according to media reports Monday.
Charter is expected to pay $ 100 per share in cash and the balance in company stock in the prospective deal that would combine the nation’s fourth- and second-largest cable companies, Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal reported.
Bright House Networks, a smaller cable company Charter said it would acquire in March as part of a separate $ 10.4 billion deal, would also be folded into the merged Charter-Time Warner company, Bloomberg reported.
The new transaction, potentially the latest in the rapidly consolidating pay-TV industry, could be announced as early as Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg report.
The prospective deal could create a potent new rival for the nation’s largest pay-TV and broadband firms, including Comcast (CMCSA), the largest U.S. cable company.
Charter did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Time Warner spokeswoman Susan Leepson declined to comment.
Charter, controlled by prominent cable industry executive John Malone’s Liberty Media, initially sought to buy Time Warner in a series of escalating bids in 2013-2014. Time Warner’s board rejected Charter’s sweetened offer of approximately $ 61 billion in cash, stock and debt assumption in Jan. 2014.
The board characterized the offer as a “third grossly inadequate proposal.”
Comcast then entered the fray, trumping Charter with a $ 45.2 merger agreement for Time Warner. But the companies ultimately scrapped their planned tie-up in April, bowing to stiff opposition from consumers and a likely anti-trust veto from federal regulators.
Asked at an investor conference whether he would consider a new effort to buy Time Warner if the Comcast deal were rejected, Malone replied “Hell, yes.”
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