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Comcast+TWC: Why a Cable Behemoth Would Be Bad for Business

Phillip Dampier April 23, 2015 Comcast/Xfinity, Competition, Consumer News, Online Video, Public Policy & Gov't, Video Comments Off on Comcast+TWC: Why a Cable Behemoth Would Be Bad for Business

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BTIG Media and Tech Analyst Rich Greenfield discusses the fight against a Time Warner Cable and Comcast merger deal. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Paul Sweeney also speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (5:10)

Why the Comcast-TWC Merger Was Being Questioned by the FCC, Justice Dept.

Phillip Dampier April 23, 2015 Comcast/Xfinity, Competition, Consumer News, Online Video, Public Policy & Gov't, Video Comments Off on Why the Comcast-TWC Merger Was Being Questioned by the FCC, Justice Dept.

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Comcast and Time Warner Cable met with the U.S. Department of Justice this week to discuss Comcast’s $45.2 billion bid to buy its smaller peer. Comcast could ultimately walk away from the deal if the concessions needed to win approval are too strict. Bloomberg’s David Gura explains everything you need to know about the merger proposal. (1:44)

Comcast’s Dominance in Broadband Will Probably End Any Further Broadband Acquisitions in the U.S.

Phillip Dampier April 23, 2015 Comcast/Xfinity, Competition, Consumer News, Online Video, Public Policy & Gov't, Video Comments Off on Comcast’s Dominance in Broadband Will Probably End Any Further Broadband Acquisitions in the U.S.

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Bloomberg News reports Comcast’s broadband market share (with or without Time Warner Cable) is probably too large to allow it any more mergers or acquisitions in the broadband market. Chris Marangi, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, discusses the fight in Washington over Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, what may happen next in the cable industry if the deal is killed and also looks at the business of Facebook. He speaks on “Market Makers.” Marangi’s firm owns shares of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. (8:29)

Wall Street Investment Bankers Start Worrying They Won’t Get Their Fat Fees if Comcast Merger Fails

Phillip Dampier April 22, 2015 Charter Spectrum, Comcast/Xfinity, HissyFitWatch, Public Policy & Gov't Comments Off on Wall Street Investment Bankers Start Worrying They Won’t Get Their Fat Fees if Comcast Merger Fails

merger smash

With regulators considering rejecting Comcast’s $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable, investment bankers hoping to reap fat fees “advising” Comcast and Time Warner Cable about the deal are starting to panic they won’t get paid.

Although a merger flop won’t hurt giants like JPMorgan Chase, which operates a 24/7 cash vacuum, continuously sucking fees from companies engaged in Mergermania, smaller “boutique” investment banks like Allen & Co., Centerview Partners, and PJT Partners don’t have that luxury.

Reuters reports some of the smaller investment banks involved in the deal are now on edge, worried they won’t get their share of at least $140 million in investment banking advisory fees that would be paid to complete the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger deal.

“Big banks have many deals going on, and they can afford to lose one more, even though it is painful. Smaller firms are less diversified, so for them it’s much more painful,” Campbell Harvey, a professor of international business at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, told Reuters.

But crying towels are also being readied for investment bankers involved in two side deals involving Charter Communications, which are likely to also fall apart in a chain reaction if the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger dies.

dominoesCharter has deals pending with both Comcast and Time Warner Cable to launch GreatLand Connections and have plans to takeover Bright House Networks, both contingent on the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger getting approval.

Those two transactions will bring another $170 million in fees to investment bankers, with JPMorgan Chane, former top Morgan Stanley banker Taubman, and Barclays Bank splitting $51-68 million in fees between the three firms.

Time Warner Cable’s own advisers are waiting for $57-75 million in fees as well, among them Morgan Stanley, Allen & Co., Citigroup, and Centerview Partners.

To understand how important the fees are to smaller bankers, Taubman was ranked 23rd in mergers & acquisitions fees in 2014. Without the Comcast deal, Taubman drops out of the top-100.

Some bankers may have negotiated a token fee to be paid by Comcast and Time Warner Cable if the deal falls apart. Most estimates suggest usual fees amount to around 10-15 percent of the amount they would collect if a merger is successfully completed.

Chances of Comcast/Time Warner Cable Marriage Dwindling This Morning

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Richard Greenfield from BTIG Research appeared on Bloomberg TV this morning to talk about the rapidly decreasing chances the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger will make it past the Justice Department. The next question: Will Charter Buy Time Warner Cable next or will Time Warner Cable make a power play and buy Charter? (3:24)

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