Comcast is dropping its plans to merge with Time Warner Cable.
In a brief statement released this morning, Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts simply said, “Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away.”
And Comcast is walking away, both from the $45.2 billion dollar deal to acquire Time Warner Cable and its related transactions with Charter Communications.
The collapse of the huge transaction — originally announced in February 2014 — comes after agencies and regulators, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, expressed concerns about the deal and its affect on consumers.
The acquisition would have increased Comcast’s subscribers by about 8 million, for a total of roughly 30 million customers across television, broadband and other services. But further scrutiny threatened to severely drag out the acquisition process — and there was no guarantee an acquisition would even be approved in the end.
In the statement confirming the earlier speculation this week that the deal’s wheels were coming off, Roberts praised his company’s strong momentum. “Throughout this entire process, our employees have kept their eye on the ball and we have had fantastic operating results,” he said. “I want to thank them and the employees of Time Warner Cable for their tireless efforts. I couldn’t be more proud of this company and I am truly excited for what’s next.”
