Re: Paul Allen's Cable Plant
Thread,
I hope no one has already posted this article. I've been behind in my reading of the Last Mile postings.
Anyway, here's the first shot to raise funds to spend the billions needed by Paul Allen to do all the upgrades of his cable empire to two-way HFC. We all knew this was coming and I imagine there will be more.
MikeM(From Florida)
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Allen's Cable-TV Company Charter Files To Hold $3.45 Billion IPO
NEW YORK -- Charter Communications Inc., the cable-TV company controlled by billionaire investor Paul Allen, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a $3.45 billion initial public offering.
Charter, which expects the IPO to occur late in the third quarter, said the number of shares to be offered hasn't been determined. The company will use the proceeds to finance acquisitions and repay debt.
In the past year, Charter and Allen have invested billions in cable firms and assumed several billions in debt to become the fourth-largest cable operator in the U.S., behind AT&T Corp., Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. Charter Communications, which has about 6.2 million subscribers, plans to use its growing cable systems to deliver advanced services and digital information.
Allen, a Microsoft Corp. co-founder, and his investment firm Vulcan Ventures have committed $12 billion since January for investments in more than 20 Internet, cable and technology properties.
Allen believes cable lines will be the best way to quickly deliver interactive services to consumers, including educational materials, Internet access, entertainment and sports content. In particular, Allen, whose personal fortune is valued at $30 billion, is a big fan of cable modems, which deliver data at high speeds to homes.
In April 1998, Allen bought Dallas-based Marcus Communications, the 10th-largest cable operator in the U.S. Three months later, he folded Marcus into his newest purchase, St. Louis-based Charter, which then went on a shopping spree.
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