Time Warner Cable CFO plays down merger talks
September 16, 2009
Time Warner
Cable
's CFO Rob Marcus poured cold water on talk that the cable and broadband internet provider could merge with Comcast, during the Goldman Sachs Communicopia Conference.
Stock analysts and telecom industry observers have in recent weeks sprread discussion that the two largest combination cable and internet companies could merge, or that Comcast could buy out Time Warner Cable.
A court ruling last month cleared the way for cable companies to get bigger, after it ruled in favor of Comcast in a law suit over Federal Communications Commission rules restricting cable companies' share of subscribers to 30 percent.
But MediaWeek reported that Marcus played down chatter about a merger. "I'm not really sure it's significant," Marcus told Mediaweek.com. "The benefits of scale are pretty well known. We're not interested in getting bigger just for the sake of getting bigger."
An investment analyst from Citigroup recently published a note saying that a merger or acquisition would be good for Comcast. Last month, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner also speculated that Comcast could buy up Time Warner Cable or Verizon.
A merger of the large cable companies would likely result in reduced competition and could lead to potentially higher cable and internet rates for some consumers.
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