Reports claim Charter snubbed $100bn takeover bid from Verizon
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Reports claim Charter snubbed $100bn takeover bid from Verizon

Verizon reportedly bid around $100 billion to buy Charter Communications, only for the second largest cable operator in the US to reject the deal.

The New York Post claimed that Charter rejected the bid, which put its stock at somewhere around $350 to $400 per share, claiming the offer was too low and not suitable.

Part of this was down to Liberty Broadband, Charter’s biggest shareholder with around a 20% stake, who did not wish to sell. Liberty, owned by billionaire John Malone, is part of Liberty Media.

Malone has previously discussed possible tie-ups with mobile operators, saying in a recent article he was open to the idea of striking a deal for Deutsche Telekom’s US mobile division, T-Mobile.

Reports of a potential deal between Charter and Verizon emerged in January, with some US press claiming Verizon boss Lowell McAdam had met with senior Liberty officials about striking a deal. This was soon denied as too costly and unlikely to gain regulatory approval.

Citing sources close to the matter, The New York Post claims Malone wants to give Charter time to integrate its own recent acquisitions, which include last year’s purchase of Time Warner Cable, and also Bright House Networks.

Verizon has had its own acquisition spree over the last few years, as it close to finalising a deal to buy Yahoo. It is trying to compete with major rival AT&T, who itself is in the process of buying Time Warner.

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