Charter Communications has offered to acquire Cox Communications, a $34.5 billion merger that would combine two of the top three cable companies in the U.S.
Cox is the third-largest cable television company in the country, with more than 6.5 million digital cable, internet, telephone and home security customers. It has a strong foothold in states spanning from California to Virginia. Charter Communications, known more widely as Spectrum, has more than 32 million customers in 41 states.
The cable industry has been under assault for years from streaming services like Disney, Netflix, Amazon and HBO Max, as well as internet plans offered by mobile phone companies. Comcast, which is of nearly equal size to Charter, spun off many of its cable television networks in November as consumers increasingly swap out their cable TV subscriptions for streaming platforms.
Charter said Friday that it will acquire Cox Communications’ commercial fiber and managed IT and cloud businesses. Cox Enterprises will contribute Cox Communications’ residential cable business to Charter Holdings, an existing subsidiary partnership of Charter.
Cox Enterprises will own about 23% of the combined company’s outstanding shares.
The proposed deal is one of the largest in over a year. Mars’ announced a $30 billion deal with Kellanova last summer and ExxonMobil’s approximately $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural happened in late 2023.
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