D.C. Memo: Charter Buying Cox for $34.5 Billion
◾ Analyst’s Cable ISP Forecast: Gloomy ◾ Really? Hoyer Swipes at FTC’s Ferguson over ‘Trump-Vance’ Phrasing ◾ Cable One Responds to Fixed Wireless ◾ Capito Still Waiting to Hear from Lutnick on BEAD
Merger: Charter Communications under CEO Christopher Winfrey is buying cable broadband ISP Cox Communications, a privately held subsidiary of Cox Enterprises that serves more than 7 million homes and businesses across 18 U.S. states, Charter announced Friday. Cox offers a range of services including digital video, high-speed Internet, telephone, and home security and automation. The deal would unite two of the largest ISPs in the U.S. in a transaction likely to require FCC approval because Cox likely holds Cable Television Relay Service (CARS) licenses, which are point-to-point microwave systems used by cable operators, and CBRS Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in several counties. Charter, which has 30 million broadband subs, is offering cash and stock in a transaction that values Atlanta-based Cox at $34.5 billion. “Based on Charter's share count as of March 31, 2025, at the closing, Cox Enterprises will own approximately 23% of the combined” company …” Charter said. In the first year after closing, “the combined company will change its name to Cox Communications. Spectrum will become the consumer-facing brand within the communities Cox serves,” Charter said.
MoffettNathanson Senior Managing Director Craig Moffett, in an interview yesterday with Winfrey, asked if certain cable ISPs looked attractive because it would be cheaper to buy them than to build out new infrastructure. “I think we have always been capable of doing both and based on the opportunities that present themselves to us,” Winfrey said, noting that some cable ISPs (without naming names) were privately held. “They’ll decide if and when they will make a move.” (More after paywall.)
