Verizon CEO instigates merger talks with cable giant Charter

Verizon Communications is exploring a merger with US cableco Charter Communications, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the financial daily, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has reached out to Charter – the country’s second largest broadband provider by subscribers – with a ‘preliminary approach’ although no formal deal has yet been tabled. The contact was reportedly made through Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Broadband, which owns a 20% equity stake in Charter. The cableco, which acquired Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks in a double deal that concluded in May 2016, has been tipped to move into the wireless space in the coming years, after Liberty owner John Malone recently mooted the possibility of the country’s major cablecos teaming up for a joint bid on T-Mobile US. Neither party has commented on the report, while the Trump administration’s position regarding so-called mega-mergers remains unclear.