Charter Communications and Advance/Newhouse Partnership, parent company of Bright House Networks, have struck a deal where Charter will acquire Bright House for 10.4 billion, the companies announced Tuesday.
Bright House is the sixth largest cable operator in the country, serving a large swath of people in Florida along the I-4 corridor (Orlando, Tampa), Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and California.
“Bright House Networks provides Charter with important operating, financial and tax benefits, as well as strategic flexibility,” Tom Rutledge, president and CEO of Charter, said. “Bright House has built outstanding cable systems in attractive markets that are either complete, or contiguous with the New Charter footprint. This acquisition enhances our scale, and solidifies New Charter as the second largest cable operator in the US. I look forward to working with the Bright House team, whom we have known for years, in delivering great products and services to grow our market share.”
“We are excited about our transaction with Charter,” Steven Miron, Chief Executive Officer of Bright House Networks said.
“At Bright House Networks, we are very proud of what we have achieved – from the quality of our infrastructure to the level of service our employees provide to customers every day. We share the same vision for the future of our business as Tom and the Charter leadership team, which is to gain market share by offering customers competitive products and excellent service at a tremendous value. Also, our family has known and worked with Tom Rutledge for more than 20 years. Tom managed cable systems that were part of our partnership with Time Warner Cable prior to the formation of Bright House Networks. We think the combination with Charter gives our employees, our customers and Advance/Newhouse the strongest prospects for the future.”