Comcast Corp.'s (CMCSA) proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) is not expected to close until the middle of this year, as the deal is stuck in regulatory limbo.
"Given the FCC's recent decision to pause the shot clock, we have recently reassessed the time frame when we expect the government's regulatory review to be completed and now expect that the review should be concluded in the middle of the year," said Comcast in a blog post.
On March 18, the Federal Communications Commission said it was pausing the informal 180-day clock for the pending review of the deal that will combine the largest and the second largest cable providers in the U.S. The antitrust watchdog has cited the regulatory limbo to the pending court verdicts related to disclosure of records of video-programming contracts with third-party suppliers. The FCC's decision on the merger was scheduled to be announced at the end of March, but now it is expected in a couple of months.
Comcast agreed in mid-February 2014 to buy Time Warner Cable in a $45.2 billion all-stock friendly merger deal. Time Warner Cable was to merge with and into a 100% owned subsidiary of Comcast.
The deal was originally expected to close in early 2015. Shareholders of both companies had in October overwhelmingly approved the merger.
A combined Comcast-Time Warner entity is expected to control an estimated 35% of broadband Internet service coverage and just under 30% of the country's pay television subscribers.
The approval for the deal is now seen to be much more than just the FCC and DoJ approval, with some of the larger states such as California and New York pulling in their weight. Both these states have powerful public utility commissions and they are likely to flex their regulatory muscle.
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