John Malone’s Charter wants to buy Time Warner Cable for $62 billion. Why more deals will follow

Gigaom

After months-long game of cat-and-mouse, Charter has finally offered to buy Time Warner Cable (S TWC) in a deal valued at $62 billion, a deal that will push the cable industry toward consolidation. Time Warner of course, rejected the offer, which valued the cable provider at $132.50 per share (close to its trading value), as “grossly inadequate. The offer included approximately $83 per share in cash and $49.50 per share in Charter stock.

The real question now, is whether this letter (from Charter) pushes Time Warner Cable to the negotiating table or if it’s just another failed attempt by Charter (with the support of its largest shareholder John Malone) to set in motion a cycle of cable industry consolidation. Malone has been pushing this for a while, and so far, Time Warner has refused to bite. As we’ve said before, the cable industry is seeking consolidation to take advantage of…

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