by Maureen Farrell Wall Street Journal
“Cable cowboy” John Malone has lassoed another company.
Charter Communications Inc.CHTR +7.91%, backed by Mr. Malone, announced an agreement to buy Bright House Networks LLC, the sixth-largest cable operator in the U.S., for $10.4 billion in cash and stock Tuesday morning.
Shares of Charter jumped 7% on the news. With the deal, Charter would become the second-largest cable operator in the U.S.
The deals comes after Mr. Malone’s monthslong efforts to acquire Time Warner Cable TWC +0.66% in 2013 and 2014 came to naught. Instead, Comcast Corp.CMCSA +0.09% swooped in with a $45 billion deal for Time Warner Cable last February.
“It’s not consolation prize necessarily, but it certainly is a good fit for them,” said Lance Vitanza, an analyst at CRT Capital, in an interview Tuesday morning.