WSJ: Charter interested in merger with Time Warner Cable

Executives at Charter Communications Inc. have reached out to Time Warner Cable Inc. to discuss a possible merger of the two cable companies, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

John Malone, the chairman of Charter’s largest shareholder, Liberty Broadband Corp., called Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus “to express Charter’s interest in pursuing friendly deal talks,” the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Merger talks come after another cable company, Comcast, the biggest cable operator in the U.S., dropped its $45.2 billion bid for No. 2 competitor Time Warner Cable amid regulatory concerns.

Charter, the No. 4 cable company in the U.S., “has been laying the groundwork” for making an offer to Time Warner Cable, the Journal reported, and will continue to this week when Charter CEO Tom Rutledge and Time Warner Cable’s Marcus meet at the annual National Cable & Telecommunications Association convention in Chicago.

Time Warner Cable is the dominant cable provider in the Charlotte area. It has a major Charlotte administrative office and about 3,140 employees in the local market.

The cable operator recently said it will roll out faster Internet speeds and improved television services in the Charlotte region this summer. Rivals Google Fiber and AT&T also said they plan to deploy faster speeds soon.

This story was originally published May 4, 2015 at 7:39 AM with the headline "WSJ: Charter interested in merger with Time Warner Cable."