Charter Communications to buy Liberty Broadband in all-share deal

Cable operator Charter Communications said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Liberty Broadband, which is controlled by US cable pioneer John Malone, in an all-share deal.

Under the terms of the transaction, holders of each class of Liberty Broadband stock will receive 0.236 of a share of Charter common stock per share, with cash to be issued in lieu of fractional shares.

Liberty Broadband’s principal assets currently consist of about 45.6m common shares of Charter and its subsidiary GCI, Alaska’s largest communications provider.

As a result of the deal, Charter expects to retire those shares and to issue approximately 34m shares to holders of Liberty Broadband common stock at the closing, resulting in a net decrease of about 11.5m Charter shares outstanding.

Charter chief executive and president Chris Winfrey said: "We are pleased to announce this agreement today with Liberty Broadband. I am grateful for Liberty Broadband’s strategic partnership since 2013, and particularly for the support of John Malone, Greg Maffei and our Liberty Broadband nominated board members.

"We look forward to their continued partnership and support in the coming years in driving value for our shareholders."