Comcast set to buy Time Warner
The country's two largest cable companies will become one, an anonymous source familiar with the subject said Wednesday. An announcement is expected Thursday.
A cable truck returns to a Time Warner Cable office in San Diego, California in this December file photo. Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, will buy No. 2 Time Warner Cable.
REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files
LOS ANGELES
Comcast has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion in stock, or $158.82 per share, in a deal that would combine the top two cable TV companies in the nation.
That's according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced formally. An announcement is set for Thursday morning, the person said.
The price is about 17 percent above Time Warner Cable shares' closing price Wednesday.
The deal trumps a proposal by Charter Communications Inc. to buy Time Warner for about $38 billion in cash and stock worth $132.50 per share and comes just a day after Charter said it was preparing a proxy fight by nominating a full slate of directors to Time Warner Cable's board.