Comcast and Time Warner bid for troubled Adelphia

Adelphia Communications, which had to seek bankruptcy protection after a scandal involving its founder, John J. Rigas, and his two sons, will apparently be acquired by Time Warner and Comcast in a deal involving $18 billion in cash and stocks.

Cablevision had made a last minute bid to beat out the Time Warner/ Comcast bid, but that effort seems to have failed.

While spokesmen from Time Warner, Comcast, and Adelphia would not comment on the matter, the deal was presented to a bankruptcy judge on Thursday. Besides court approval, a majority of each class of Adelphia’s creditors will have to approve the deal.

Approval would give Adelphia’s 5.3 million subscribers to Time Warner and Comcast. This would continue the trend in the cable industry to put more and more subscribers into the hands of fewer cable providers.

Rigas and one son were convicted of taking billions of dollars from Adelphia; a second son’s trial ended in a hung jury.

Story link: Comcast and Time Warner bid for troubled Adelphia