The landmark merger between metro Atlanta-based Cox Communications and Charter Communications has cleared its final regulatory hurdle, paving the way for a deal that will create the largest cable TV and broadband provider in the U.S.
California regulators approved the deal valued at $34.5 billion after Charter made concessions, including offering low-cost service for low-income households and providing five years of free broadband and Wi-Fi service for 50 schools, libraries and other community centers. The deal value includes debt to be assumed.
The combined company will do business in 45 states, and California was the final state to give its approval. The deal is expected to close later this month.
Though the combined business will be based in Connecticut, Atlanta will remain a core market for the company and a key operations hub. Georgia will also be a key broadband market for the combined company.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Charter said it expects to close its transaction next week, and that the deal “will benefit millions of consumers who will soon have access to greater value and opportunities to save.”
Cox declined to comment.
Cox Enterprises, which also owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will hold about 23% of the combined company.
Upon closing, the combined cable behemoth will have about 37 million customers and will generate approximately $67 billion in revenue annually, according to numbers provided by Charter President and CEO Christopher Winfrey during an earnings call in July.
The combined company will take the Cox Communications name within a year. For the consumer market, it will use the name Spectrum, the name of Charter’s cable brand. It will be publicly traded and based in Connecticut, where Charter is currently headquartered, but it will retain significant operations on Cox Enterprises’ campus in Sandy Springs.
The deal, initially announced in May of last year, is a major milestone in consolidation among cable and broadband operators.
Charter and Cox have said that together they will be bigger and better able to compete in an evolving marketplace that has seen consumers access television, other forms of video entertainment and the internet in different ways, increasingly wirelessly and on the go.
Streaming services have changed the way many consumers watch video and TV, and wireless and satellite companies have expanded into internet service. Cable companies have responded by launching cellular networks.
Charter expects the merger to save about $500 million within three years of close, according to the May 2025 announcement.
The Cox family is the longest continuous cable operator in the industry, having acquired its first cable television franchise in 1962.
The combined company expects to recruit more than 1,000 new residential and business sales jobs in Cox territories, Winfrey said. It will also onshore and insource call center activity across sales, retention and customer service.
Alex Taylor, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, will also join the board of the new business and serve as chairman.
In recent years, Cox Enterprises has diversified its holdings, selling its majority stakes in its television and radio stations and making acquisitions in clean energy, electric vehicles and the EV supply chain, health technology, sustainable agriculture and media.
Cox Enterprises will continue to own its Cox Automotive division, media holdings, including the AJC and Axios, and its emerging ventures in technology, agriculture and other sectors, the company said.
Cox Enterprises will receive $4 billion in cash as part of the transaction, $6 billion in convertible preferred units that are exchangeable for Charter common stock and nearly $12 billion in common units that are exchangeable for Charter common stock, according to the 2025 announcement of the deal. The combined company will assume $12 billion in outstanding Cox Communications debt.
In addition to Taylor’s seat, Cox Enterprises will have two other seats on the 13-member board.
The Federal Communications Commission approved the deal earlier this year.
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