Let the games begin!
Charter completes purchase of 3 cable companies
ST. LOUIS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR), the nation's fourth largest cable system operator, said Monday it acquired three cable service companies, adding nearly 1.8 million subscribers.
Charter, controlled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, currently has a subscriber base of about 3.7 million.
The company, which debuted its stock on Nasdaq last week, said it completed the acquisitions of Falcon Communications L.P., Fanch Communications Inc., and Avalon Cable for a combined total of about $6.8 billion.
Charter said it purchased Falcon, which has subscribers in California, the Pacific Northwest, Missouri, North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, for $3.6 billion and would add one million more subscribers.
The company said it purchased Fanch Communications, which services West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Michigan, for $2.4 billion, adding 537,000 customers.
The company also purchased Avalon Cable, which services Michigan and New England, for about $845 million, adding about 260,000 subscribers.
Charter had said earlier that the acquisition of Bresnan Communications, which primarily serves Michigan subscribers, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2000 and will add about 690,000 subscribers.
Shares of Charter, which offers traditional cable television services, digital cable television services and high-speed Internet access, were off 15/16 at 23-1/8 in afternoon trade on Nasdaq. |
