Charter Communications became the second-largest cable provider in the United States on Wednesday after completing the acquisitions of Time Warner Cable and Bright House.
Charter closed deals to pick up TWC for $55 million and take over the smaller cable provider, Bright House, for $10.4 billion. That makes Charter large enough to nip at Comcast’s heels by providing TV, Internet and phone services to “over 24 million customers in 41 states,” according to a statement from the company.
Charter’s CEO Tom Rutledge will serve as the chairman of the board of directors, Reuters reported. It will have 13 directors, three of whom will be designated by Liberty Broadband, which last year agreed to purchase $4.3 billion of newly issued shares of Charter at $195.70 per share.
Charter’s effort to purchase the two companies began just shy of a year ago, and the Federal Communications Commission approved the acquisitions earlier this month.
A Charter spokesperson told Bloomberg the brands it bought will eventually be phased out of existence.
“While Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers will not see any immediate change, the company will be called Charter and the products and services will be marketed under the ‘Spectrum’ brand,” the representative said.