Is Time Warner Cable for sale? The grapevine sure seems to think so, and the latest talk seems to be pumping up the stock of both TWC and one of its possible suitors.
Charter Cable has been making noise about its interest in acquiring TWC. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, Charter is nearly ready to make an offer.
That would be the same as a small fish eating a bigger fish. Charter is the nation’s #4 cable company, while TWC is #2. The others in the top four include Cox at #3 and Comcast at #1.
And Comcast is the other company being named in the TWC acquisition chatter. The Wrap says that TWC would rather be acquired by Comcast, if it’s going to be acquired at all. However, the parties are not known to be in negotiation over a possible deal.
Nonetheless, both stocks were rising on speculation, with TWC getting a particularly heft jolt within shouting distance of a double-digit percent gain as of midday Friday 11/22/13.
The biggest hurdle may not be the ability of Comcast and TWC to reach a deal – it may be getting it past the authorities. The DOJ and FTC may have a problem with #1 cabler Comcast swallowing up #2 TWC, particularly after it only recently swallowed up NBC Universal.
