Charter expected to put more pressure on Time Warner Cable

Charter Communications Inc. could nominate a full slate of new directors for Time Warner Cable Inc. this week as part of a bitter takeover battle between two of the nation's largest cable-TV companies, according to industry sources and published reports.

Time Warner Cable has rebuffed three separate takeover offers by Charter, the most recent in January for $132.50 a share in cash and stock, saying the terms were financially inadequate.

With the Time Warner Cable board supporting the company's management, Charter's remaining option is to nominate a director slate friendly to its takeover proposal. Time Warner Cable's board of directors is elected annually.

Charter spokesman Justin Venech had no comment Monday.

Comcast Corp. could acquire Time Warner Cable's New York cable systems and others on the East Coast if Charter were to succeed with its hostile takeover.

Comcast is not expected to participate in Charter's hostile bid, but would purchase specific Time Warner Cable systems to help Charter pay for the deal.

Time Warner Cable stock rose 35 cents Monday to close at $135.70, indicating that investors believed that Charter also could sweeten its bid.

Nominating a new board slate would be an all-out, headline-grabbing takeover war.

Cable pioneer John Malone owns about 27 percent of Charter and has said that cable companies must consolidate to gain leverage with content providers that sell their cable channels to pay-TV distributors.

The takeover bid has put Time Warner Cable on the defensive because of steep cable-TV-subscriber losses over the last year. Its management has vowed a three-year turnaround.

Most recently, Time Warner Cable chief executive Robert Marcus said in a Jan. 30 conference call with analysts that the $132.50-a-share offer "falls well short of the value that we can create by executing our current operating plan."