Liberty Media eyes Charter Communications deal

John Malone’s Liberty Media is reportedly close to acquiring a 25% stake in US cable company Charter Communications. 

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Liberty Media is due to pay around US$2.5 billion (€1.93 billion) and is expected to acquire the stake from a group of private equity firms, including Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital Management.

Charter claims to be the fourth largest cable operator in the US with some 5.2 million customers across 25 states and the deal would see Malone move back into the US cable operator space, having previously sold Tele-Communications Inc. to AT&T in 1999.

Liberty Media owns minority investments in Time Warner and Viacom and has holdings in a number of other firms. Company chairman, Malone, is also chairman of the board of Liberty Global, the European cable operator that earlier this year agreed to buy UK cable company Virgin Media for US$23.3 billion (€17.9 billion).