Comcast wants to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion in an all stock purchase. Comcast has agreed to purchase each stock for $158.82, which would bring the two biggest providers together. Currently TWC stock is up 6% while Comcast stock is down 3%, because regulators will take a close look at this deal. Comcast says that regulators will approve this transaction because the pressure on cable companies from Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services are high.
If the deal would be approved the new company would have strong power over the countries television, phone,and internet services. While they could put a stop to Netflix and Hulu by pressuring content makers to stop deals with the companies, we could see other providers and companies battle to stop this deal long before that happens.
“No one woke up this morning wishing their cable company was bigger or had more control over what they could watch or download. But that — along with higher bills — is the reality they’ll face tomorrow unless the Department of Justice and the FCC do their jobs and block this merger,” Free Press said in a statement. “Stopping this kind of deal is exactly why we have antitrust laws.”
If Comcast can prove that cable companies are having trouble competing then the deal will go through and we could have a monopoly on our hands. However, with pressure from Netflix cable companies have been struggling which could be an argument for Comcast. The deal should close and be approved by the end of the year. Tell us in the comments what you think of this merger.