Comcast acquired Time Warner Cable in a "friendly, stock-for-stock transaction in which Comcast will acquire 100 percent of Time Warner Cable’s 284.9 million shares outstanding," an amount that is valued at approximately $45.2 billion in equity value.
The merger "will create a leading technology and innovation company differentiated by our ability to deliver ground breaking products on a superior network," according to Cohen.
Robert D. Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner, said of the merger, "This combination creates a company that delivers maximum value for our shareholders, enormous opportunities for our employees and a superior experience for our customers," adding, "Comcast and Time Warner Cable have been the leaders in all of the industry’s most important innovations of the last 25 years and this merger will accelerate the pace of that innovation."
The new company will be led by current Comcast President and CEO Neil Smit.
Cohen addressed concerns of anti-competitiveness by saying, "We recognize that certain competitive concerns might be raised about the combination of these assets.We strongly believe that these competitive concerns are already addressed by the highly competitive marketplace in which the new company will vigorously compete for subscribers by existing rules and regulations, by the binding conditions and requirements already in place as a result of the approval of the Comcast/NBCUniversal transaction, and by a series of undertakings that we announced today."
The merger still needs the blessing of regulators in the federal government, but according to an article in Business Week, it may be a non-issue. "The cable companies don’t actually compete with each other now," the piece points out, "When you move to a new city, you don’t get to choose among Comcast, Time Warner Cable, or Charter."
No comments:
Post a Comment