Market Uncertain That Charter-Time Warner Cable Deal Will Get Approved

Charter Communications has offered to buy Time Warner Cable for $195 per share in cash and equity, a 14% premium to Friday’s closing price, but Time Warner Cable has only increased 4.26% to $178 as investors worry about whether the deal will get regulatory approval. A proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable fell through earlier this year as US Department of Justice anti-trust division got close to issuing a recommendation to block the deal. Even though this is a very different deal, the initial statement from the FCC isn’t that encouraging.

“The FCC reviews every merger on its merits and determines whether it would be in the public interest. In applying the public interest test, an absence of...