$88 billion deal between Charter, Time Warner clears final hurdle

Charter Communications said Thursday it plans to complete its purchase of Time Warner Cable and a smaller company next week, concluding a deal that will create the second-largest internet provider in the United States.

“We are pleased to have now obtained all approvals,” said a Charter representative in an email.

{mosads}“We look forward to closing these transactions next week and to begin delivering the many benefits of these transactions to consumers.”

The transaction cleared its last regulatory hurdle on Thursday when the California Public Utilities Commission gave its blessing to the deal. The vote was unanimous, according to Multichannel News.

Charter announced it was purchasing Time Warner Cable last year, along with a separate purchase of Bright House Networks, a smaller company.

The Federal Communications Commission signed off on the deal last week while placing conditions on the combined company, the most prominent of which are meant to maintain competition in the online video sector. The California body is placing its own conditions on the deal, as is the Department of Justice, which reviews deals for antitrust violations.

The completed acquisition will be a victory for Charter, which swept in to buy Time Warner Cable after Comcast dropped its own proposed bid to buy the company under pressure from regulators. Charter’s deal is estimated to be worth roughly $88 billion in total.

It’s just the latest in a flurry of deals by cable and video companies. AT&T bought DirecTV last year, and earlier this month the FCC approved the purchase of Cablevision by European firm Altice.