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Time Warner Cable rejects Charter's $60bn bid as 'grossly inadequate' | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
Time Warner Cable has rejected a $60bn (£37bn) bid from rival, Charter Communications, saying the offer price was "grossly inadequate". | |
Charter had offered $132.50 a share, with $83 of that in cash and the rest in its own stock, to buy the firm. | |
It said it was going public with its offer because of a lack of interest from Time Warner's management in its efforts to purchase the firm. | |
But Time Warner said Charter was trying to buy it for a "bargain" price. | |
"In essence, these guys are just trying to get a premium asset at a bargain basement price," Rob Marcus, chief executive of Time Warner was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. | |
"This makes the job of fending it off rather straightforward. Our shareholders will see it as what it is, an attempt to steal the company." | |
'Unrealistic price expectations' | '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 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. | "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". | 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. | 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. |