Charter Communications Inc. of Stamford has received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission for its proposed purchase of New York-based Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks LLC, clearing the way for the massive merger.
“We look forward to closing these transactions next week and to begin delivering the many benefits of these transactions to consumers,” according to a statement by Tom Rutledge, president and CEO of Charter Communications.
The merger of the companies, scheduled to be completed by May 18 pending “customary closing conditions,” will create the second-largest broadband internet service provider and third-largest provider of video.
The new formation will continue under the Charter name.
The $56.7 billion deal has been approved by shareholders of both Charter and Time Warner. Time Warner stockholders will receive $100 in cash and shares of common stock in the new Charter company.
Charter values its acquisition of Bright House at $10.4 billion.
The deal received approval from the Federal Communications Commission last week, under which Charter agreed to a number of conditions including no data caps or usage-based billing, a commitment to build out high-speed broadband service to unserved and underserved customers, the fastest low-income broadband program of any major service provider and allowing for internet content providers to exchange traffic with Charter without fees.
