Comcast wants to pull out of its proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable as more administrative hurdles get set up and officials showing a marked lack of enthusiasm, the Wall Street Journal reprted, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The deal awaited federal approval for more than a year, with opposition from the US Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sharpening over the past week.
Comcast’s board took a vote on the matter on 23 April and plan to come out with an announcement very soon. Time Warner Cable executives are expected to explain how the company will be able to survive independently during the release of their results on 30 April, the sources said.
Before the deal with Comcast was announced in February 2014, Time Warner Cable was in talks to merge with Charter Communications. In the short term, the deal’s collapse means Charter, which agreed to take control of 3.9 million Comcast cable-TV subscribers, will not get those customers. Another Charter deal, the recent agreement to purchase of Bright House Networks, could also be in jeopardy, because Time Warner Cable has the right to block it as part of its long-time arrangement to negotiate programming and other deals for Bright House.
