Charter, Cox Detail $34.5 Billion Merger Structure

Charter Communications has agreed to a $34.5 billion merger with Cox Communications, combining two major U.S. cable and broadband providers to better compete with streaming services and wireless carriers. The deal involves Charter acquiring Cox’s commercial fiber, managed IT, and cloud operations, while Cox’s residential cable business will be contributed to Charter Holdings. The new entity will be named Cox Communications within a year, with Spectrum as the consumer-facing brand in Cox’s markets. Charter CEO Chris Winfrey will lead the company, Cox Enterprises will own about 23%, and Cox CEO Alex Taylor will chair the board. The merger, which still requires regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to close alongside Charter’s Liberty Broadband merger. The combined company aims to expand its bundled broadband, TV, and mobile offerings as cable TV continues to lose subscribers.