NBC – The broadband battle heated up on Tuesday when Charter Communications said it agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $55 billion, in a deal that would combine the second- and third-largest U.S. cable providers and create a more formidable rival to Comcast.
Charter will pay $195 a share for Time Warner in a cash and stock deal. The transaction will include a $2 billion breakup fee. Charter also announced it would acquire Bright House Networks, the sixth largest U.S. cable company, for $10.4 billion. The combined companies could have as many as 23 million total customers, just behind Comcast’s 27.2 million customers.
