Charter-Time Warner Cable Deal Gets FCC Approval

Bright House can be acquired as well, government agency decides — though it has some conditions

Charter TWC

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Charter’s acquisitions of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

The actual decision came on Thursday, though the independent government agency waited until Friday to share the news.

There are some conditions attached to the approval, but they are not yet public. An official order detailing those and the commission’s reasoning for its decision is expected to be issued in the next few days.

The mergers will make Charter Communications the second-biggest cable provider behind giant Comcast, which recently made a high-profile acquisition of its own in the form of a $3.8 billion DreamWorks Animation purchase.

This deal is much bigger than that, however: Charter is valuing Time Warner Cable at $78.7 billion and Bright House at $10.4 billion.

The new trifecta of cable companies will combine to serve 23.9 million customers in 41 states. These acquisitions were previously approved by company shareholders and the Department of Justice.

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