Go big or go home – that’s how John Malone rolls. But even by his titanic standards his pursuit of Time Warner Cable is staggering and will ultimately prove too much to bite off. Three months ago the prodigal son of cable returned to his roots by acquiring – through his Liberty Media company – a 27 per cent stake in Charter Communications for $2.6bn. Charter is the fourth-largest US cable provider with 5m subscribers and an enterprise value of $25bn. By contrast, Time Warner Cable has 15m subscribers and an enterprise value of $55bn, which illustrates just how audacious Mr Malone’s play actually is.
要麼做大、要麼回家——這就是約翰•馬龍(John Malone)的風格。但即便按照他的超大號版本的標準，他對時代華納有線(Time Warner Cable, TWC)的要約也相當驚人，並將最終證明是難以吞下的。三個月前，這位出手闊綽的有線電視業浪子做回了自己本行——通過其自由媒體公司(Liberty Media company)，以26億美元價格收購了Charter通訊(Charter Communications) 27%的股份。Charter是美國第四大有線電視供應商，擁有500萬用戶和250億美元企業價值。相比之下，時代華納有線擁有1500萬用戶和550億美元企業價值，這說明馬龍打的牌有多冒進。