Bright House Deal Advances Malone’s Cable Ambitions

Cable tycoon John Malone missed out on a big prize when the company he backs, Charter Communications, failed in its bid to acquire Time Warner Cable. But he’s finding other ways to once again become a formidable player in the US cable industry. In the latest deal, Charter agreed to acquire Bright House Networks, a closely held cable operator with two million customers, for $10.4 billion in cash and stock. Charter is already expected to gain management control of several million more customers through divestitures if Time Warner Cable’s pending sale to giant Comcast closes. If they win approval from regulators, the deals would leave Charter with about 10.1 million owned and managed video customers, not far off Time Warner Cable’s 10.8 million. Malone’s Liberty Broadband Corp. has been Charter’s biggest shareholder.