While Charter Communications last month was working on submitting formal a bid for Time Warner Cable before 2014, “trying to devise a deal structure that would lure the No. 2 U.S. cable operator’s shareholders,” the push may have been dropped, as Charter Communications CEO Thomas Rutledge told CNBC’s Squawk Box 12/3: “Charter doesn’t need any acquisitions to be a successful company.”
Charter—backed by John Malone’s Liberty Media—has been unsuccessfully trying to court Time Warner Cable for months. Both Cox Communications and Comcast are also said to be considering bids.
The cable companies believed to be interested in buying Time Warner Cable has made for a “rather frothy experience,” Rutledge added.
Liberty Media approached Time Warner Cable earlier this year about merging with Charter. Liberty Media agreed to buy about 27% of Charter for about $2.62 billion in March, helping Liberty re-establish itself as a player in cable TV. Charter is the eighth biggest pay-TV provider, with some 4.2 million video subscribers.
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, weighed in on the show, saying the potential opportunity around consolidation makes “an attractive Charter, more attractive…Time Warner [Cable] is relatively unique because it’s not controlled by a family; and it’s large; and they have a management transition going on.”
