Charter says the parent company name will become Cox Communications, but it will operate its consumer-facing services as Spectrum, currently a Charter brand.
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Stamford-based Charter Communications says it has completed its $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications.
The deal creates the nation’s largest cable and broadband provider by subscriber count.
The California Public Utility Commission voted last week to approve the transaction, the final regulatory hurdle for the deal. Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority voted unanimously to approve the deal back in March.
Charter says the parent company name will become Cox Communications, but it will operate its consumer-facing services as Spectrum, currently a Charter brand.
The merged company will remain headquartered in Stamford, but maintain a “significant presence” in Atlanta — currently Cox’s home base.
As the deal goes through, Liberty Broadband has ceased to be a shareholder in Charter Communications. It has held a significant minority stake in the company for more than a decade.
Chris Winfrey, Charter’s president and CEO, will lead the merged company.
"The market has changed considerably over the past decade, and regional providers like Spectrum are competing with national and even global connectivity and entertainment companies,” he said. “Today, with expanded scale, we are better positioned to compete and continue investment in our products and service, tools and platforms, and to further the capability and reach of our Spectrum Fiber Broadband Network."
Cox serves customers in more than three dozen Connecticut municipalities, including Manchester, Enfield and Meriden.
As part of its agreement with PURA earlier this year, Charter committed to maintain its Stamford corporate headquarters for at least five years following the close of the deal, contribute $3 million over five years for digital access and literacy programs in distressed municipalities, and honor existing “price for life” customer agreements.
Charter also agreed to ban downgrade fees for cable TV customers, notify regulators of major outages affecting at least 1,000 customers, keep brick-and-mortar payment locations open in Willimantic and Newtown for two years post-closing, and file annual rate cards with PURA.
