Chris Hondros/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Another cable mega-merger is in the works. This time, it’s Charter Communications buying its much larger rival Time Warner Cable for $55.33 billion.
Ahead of the deal, Time Warner — the second biggest company in the country — was valued at $78.7 billion.
Charter also wants to buy a smaller company, Bright House Networks, for $10 billion.
If regulators approve this, Charter would have a total of nearly 24 million cable and broadband customers in 41 states, making it almost as big as Comcast, which scrapped its own effort to buy Time Warner last month.
“With today’s announcement, we have delivered on our commitment to maximizing shareholder value,” said Robert D. Marcus, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable, in a statement. “This agreement recognizes the unique value of Time Warner Cable, and brings together three great companies that share a common philosophy of strong operations, great products, robust network investment and putting customers first.”
The three companies expect to close the agreement by the end of 2015.
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