Scary Day in the Skies as Several East Coast Flights on Alert
Charter Communications (CHTR) is making a bid to buy Time Warner Cable (TWC) in a deal worth more than $78 billion. The acquisition by Charter would vault the cable operator into the ranks of the biggest U.S. broadband and pay TV companies. The combined cable giant would have 23 million total customers, second only to Comcast (CMSCK) 27 million customers. This deal is expected to have an easier time getting through regulatory hurdles than the Comcast-Time Warner merger, which was not approved by the government. In 2013, Charter made multiple offers to buy Time Warner Cable but was rebuffed. Its efforts culminated in a hostile bid early last year that was headed off when Comcast struck its ill-fated TWC deal. If regulators block the deal, Charter could owe Time Warner Cable about $2 billion, or Time Warner Cable could be responsible for the breakup fee if it accepts an offer from a rival suitor, a person familiar with the matter said. Comcast’s deal with Time Warner Cable had no breakup fee. It was a scary Memorial Day for airline passengers. Fighter jets were scrambled after reports of threats to planes. As many as 10 flights were impacted in the threats which were determined to be hoaxes. Twitter (TWTR) reportedly has had talks to buy Flipboard. Flipboard is a magazine style app that collects customized articles for the reader. The all stock deal would value Flipboard at $1 billion. Reportedly the talks have stalled however. Durable Goods orders are released today. New Home Sales are expected to rise to an annual pace of 509-thousand in April. And two Federal Reserve Officials are scheduled to speak today. Vice Chairman Stanley Fisher will talk about the global economy and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker will also speak about the economic outlook.