Comcast buys Time Warner Cable for US$45.2b
US$45.2 billion deal will see combined firm become the biggest player in cable TV
Comcast Corp agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable for US$45.2 billion, combining the two largest cable companies in the United States in an all-stock transaction.
Investors of Time Warner Cable will receive 2.875 Comcast shares for each of their shares, the companies said in a joint statement yesterday.
The deal values each Time Warner Cable share at US$158.82, or 17 per cent more than its close on Wednesday.
The transaction, subject to approval by shareholders and regulators, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts will extend his lead in the US cable-television market after trouncing John Malone-backed Charter Communications, which had courted Time Warner Cable since June last year. Holding out for a better offer than Charter's US$132.50-a-share bid allowed Time Warner Cable to deliver an almost 70 per cent gain for shareholders since May.
[The takeover deal] leaves Comcast as the sole king of the cable hill
"This leaves Comcast as the sole king of the cable hill, with John Malone and Charter hitting a brick wall in their hopes of becoming a close number two," said Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG. "This is a game changer for Comcast."