Cable operator Charter Communications plans next week to offer to acquire Time Warner Cable for approximately $38 billion before debt, or less than $135 per share, reports Bloomberg.
Rumors have been swirling that Time Warner Cable is for sale. The service last quarter lost 304,000 subscribers, more than any other major service operator, at least partly due to a retransmission consent dispute with CBS that led to TWC customers losing access to CBS and Showtime for nearly a month.
Time Warner Cable’s COO Rob Marcus earlier this week pushed aside those rumors, but those comments didn’t do much to persuade the market that TWC wouldn’t sell to the highest bidder.
Time Warner Cable’s stock price is up on the news that a deal might be coming, although most analysts think that $135 per share is low and that the company might hold out for an offer closer to $150 to $160 per share.
Brief Take: Marcus’ comments aside, the market’s appetite has been whet. Brief’s bets are on Time Warner Cable being acquired, either by Charter, a higher bidder or a consortium of buyers that could include other cable interests, such as the nation’s biggest cable operator, Comcast.
Read More: Bloomberg
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