Liberty released the following statement from its Chairman, John Malone, and its President and CEO, Greg Maffei, regarding support for the Charter proposal to Time Warner Cable:
“A key reason Liberty invested in Charter was the strength of Tom Rutledge and his management team. They have done a tremendous job turning around Charter’s business and we are pleased with the performance of our investment The proposed consolidation of Charter and Time Warner Cable, under the respected operational leadership of Tom Rutledge, will enable the cable industry to adopt common technology, brands and service offerings providing the scale necessary to compete in today’s marketplace,” said Malone. “This industry brought to the home 500 channels; digital compression and high speed internet, but needs scale to attract the developers and innovators critical to remaining competitive.”
“A key reason Liberty invested in Charter was the strength of Tom Rutledge and his management team. They have done a tremendous job turning around Charter’s business and we are pleased with the performance of our investment,” said Maffei. “Charter has been and can continue to be successful on a standalone basis, but the proposed combination with Time Warner Cable will drive shareholder value for all.”
RBR-TVBR observation: On 1/3 Liberty told investors that it wants to buy the roughly 48% of Sirius XM Radio that it doesn’t own. Taking full control of the satcaster could help Malone finance a bid for TWC—a company that Charter Communications has been after for much of 2013. Since acquiring a 27% stake in Charter in early 2013, Liberty has pushed for Charter to acquire the MSO.
