In Matter of Weeks, Meeting of Minds on Cable Giants’ Deal

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In early January, Time Warner Cable Robert Marcus, a former merger lawyer, quietly contacted Comcast’s chief executive, Brian Roberts, and suggested that the companies discuss a deal, restarting talks that had begun last year. Yet after a few weeks of meetings, Roberts was not sold on the idea. He was also weighing an alliance with Charter, in the hope of picking up a few choice markets should it succeed in acquiring Time Warner Cable. But Comcast and Charter could not agree on how to structure a joint hostile bid.

By late January, it looked as if Comcast might not be party to any deal at all. After Comcast reported earnings on Jan. 28, Roberts went on a roadshow to meet with his large shareholders. What he heard took him by surprise. Many of his biggest investors wanted Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable, and urged him to take on another huge deal -- not a year after having completed the acquisition of the content powerhouse NBCUniversal. Roberts returned from those meetings emboldened, and shortly before he boarded a plane to Sochi, Russia, where NBC is broadcasting the Winter Olympics, he called Mr. Marcus with a message: The deal was on.


In Matter of Weeks, Meeting of Minds on Cable Giants’ Deal