Charter Communications is nearing a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC) for nearly $55.1bn in cash and stock.
According to people familiar with the matter, Charter plans to offer approximately $195 a share for Time Warner Cable.
The people said the shareholders of Time Warner Cable will have the option to take around $115 a share in cash and the remaining in Charter stock.
Charter will also buy Bright House Networks, another US cable company, for $10.4bn. The combined firms are expected to have 23 million total customers.
Charter’s agreement to buy Time Warner Cable comes just weeks after Comcast’s withdrawal of its merger with TWC.
US regulators had earlier moved to block Comcast’s merger with TWC due to concerns in the market regarding broadband Internet services.
If approved, Comcast and TWC would have controlled over 50% of entire broadband connections in the US, with more than 34 million subscribers.
Charter’s acquisition of TWC is expected to create a bigger cable company and a strong rival to Comcast.
