This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25723203
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Charter bids $60bn for Time Warner Cable | Charter bids $60bn for Time Warner Cable |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| US cable TV operator Charter Communications has said it is offering more than $60bn (£37bn) to buy Time Warner Cable, its larger rival. | US cable TV operator Charter Communications has said it is offering more than $60bn (£37bn) to buy Time Warner Cable, its larger rival. |
| Charter said it was offering $132.50 a share, with $83 of that in cash and the rest in its own stock. | Charter said it was offering $132.50 a share, with $83 of that in cash and the rest in its own stock. |
| It added that it was going public with the offer because of a lack of interest from Time Warner's management in its efforts to purchase the firm. | |
| However, Time Warner said the offer price was "grossly inadequate". | |
| "Charter has chosen to go public with its third low-ball offer, trying to pressure Time Warner Cable's board into selling the company at a grossly inadequate price," Rob Marcus, Time Warner Cable's chief executive, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. | |
| 'Unrealistic price expectations' | |
| Charter said it had made previous offers to buy Time Warner over the past six months, but had been rebuffed. | Charter said it had made previous offers to buy Time Warner over the past six months, but had been rebuffed. |
| "They came back to us with a design to be dismissive," Tom Rutledge, chief executive of Charter, was quoted as saying by Reuters. | |
| "They have not engaged with us. All of the conversations have been one-way," he added. | |
| On Monday, Mr Rutledge released a letter he had sent to Mr Marcus, in which he accused Time Warner of having "an unrealistic price expectation". | |
| If the deal were to go ahead, the combined firm would have more than 15 million customers in the US. | |
| The takeover would be the biggest in the sector since 2002, when Comcast acquired AT&T's cable-internet division in a $30bn deal. | The takeover would be the biggest in the sector since 2002, when Comcast acquired AT&T's cable-internet division in a $30bn deal. |