Charter Communications Inc. announced Tuesday a plan to buy Time Warner Cable Inc., in a deal that values the Lexington area's dominant cable television and high-speed Internet provider at $78.7 billion.
At the same time, Charter announced an amended deal worth $10.4 billion to acquire Advance/Newhouse Partnership’s Bright House Networks LLC.
“With our larger reach, we will be able to accelerate the deployment of faster Internet speeds, state-of-the-art video experiences, and fully–featured voice products, at highly competitive prices,” Tom Rutledge, president and CEO of Charter Communications, said in a statement.
Charter officials said the combined company — which will be known as New Charter if the deal closes, as expected, by year’s end — will have operations in 41 states, serving 23.9 million customers. Rutledge will be president and CEO of the new company. He will also chair a new 13-member board of directors.
The deal follows an early courtship of Time Warner by Comcast, the industry’s largest player, that fell apart over concerns from competitors and regulators.