Acquisitions and merging between companies aren't exactly new things in the business industry. You can hear about companies buying other companies on a regular basis. With that, the news about a Verizon and Charter tie up hasn't exactly been so much of a shocker. Needless to say, this will still be one interesting combination.
Verizon Exploring A Combination With Charter
As per a report from Reuters, Verizon is "exploring" the possibility of combining with Charter Communication Inc as a part of its acquisition targets. Nevertheless, the source says that no offer has been made yet for the said tie-up. The talks are basically still in their early stages so the end result is still unclear at this point in time. With that said, there is no certainty that a deal will be closed and it's also unclear whether or not Charter executives are open to such a negotiation, as per Gizmodo's report. Nonetheless, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam allegedly said that such a merger would make industrial sense.
Charter And Verizon Company Overview
Charter is a cable provider that's ranked as the second largest in the US. This company has merged with Time Warner Cable last year which gave it a 34 percent control of the country's cable broadband market. Charter has 17 million TV subscribers and 21 million internet customers.
As for Verizon, this company is serving more than a hundred million mobile phone subscribers and more than four million TV clients. It also has about seven million internet subscriptions. With that said, it's clear that together, Verizon and Charter would become one giant company that will be on par with Comcast, the largest cable provider in the states.
Needless to say, until one of the companies say anything, this alleged merger isn't confirmed. As mentioned, the negotiation is still in its early phase, so this could take some time before a deal could be closed. That is, of course, if both companies agree to something and finally decide that a merger is the most strategic thing to do for both Verizon and Charter. It's worth noting that Verizon's Yahoo acquisition is still on a complex stage, so this could also delay the company's future mergers.
