KJP Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Vince, Thank you very much for your explanation. It helped a lot to get some feeling with the numbers behind the company. I'll have a look also on the base numbers behind the economics of the sector. thanks! This post, and others on that blog over the last two years, about Charter may interest you: https://yetanothervalueblog.com/2018/08/some-updated-thoughts-on-charter-post-earnings-chtr.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I think I mentioned on here (could have been somewhere else) that I went back with all of the monthly A/N numbers and tried to match it up to how many shares were bought back in a quarter, and they don't match really at all. It just seems like they sell some shares but not in direct proportion to the buyback. I'm not certain but I think that may be because the buying of ANH shares are not done on a perfect month ending day. For instance, the time frame for a purchase may begin on December 15 and end on January 15th. I also think that the purchases may be done all at once for an average price over the preceeding however many days. But you should be able to come close and if you are a Charter shareholder you should find this monthly information very useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Vince, Thank you very much for your explanation. It helped a lot to get some feeling with the numbers behind the company. I'll have a look also on the base numbers behind the economics of the sector. thanks! Comcast is a great comparable to forecast Charters earning power when the acquisitions are completed but with a few caveats. First you need to isolate CMCSA numbers from the rest of their assets...fortunately the information is transparent enough where you can do this with little extra work. Second you will need to make some mental adjustments with the fact that CMCSA's Arpu is roughly 30$ more per month per customer relationship....this is a big difference and may be extremely important going forward. Lastly, the nature of Charter's footprint is very different which can make an enormous difference overtime especially when you consider the potential pressure coming from 5G and other competitive positioning happening within the industry. I find the whole excercise fascinating and you will be aided greatly by reading up on the industry's history....the book Cable Cowboy's is fantastic!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJP Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I think I mentioned on here (could have been somewhere else) that I went back with all of the monthly A/N numbers and tried to match it up to how many shares were bought back in a quarter, and they don't match really at all. It just seems like they sell some shares but not in direct proportion to the buyback. I'm not certain but I think that may be because the buying of ANH shares are not done on a perfect month ending day. For instance, the time frame for a purchase may begin on December 15 and end on January 15th. I also think that the purchases may be done all at once for an average price over the preceeding however many days. But you should be able to come close and if you are a Charter shareholder you should find this monthly information very useful. We know that the company is repurchasing alot of shares and has been doing so for several years. So, what incremental value do you get from estimating monthly repurchase numbers, rather than waiting for the quarterly numbers that the company discloses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 We know that the company is repurchasing alot of shares and has been doing so for several years. So, what incremental value do you get from estimating monthly repurchase numbers, rather than waiting for the quarterly numbers that the company discloses? It's fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I think I mentioned on here (could have been somewhere else) that I went back with all of the monthly A/N numbers and tried to match it up to how many shares were bought back in a quarter, and they don't match really at all. It just seems like they sell some shares but not in direct proportion to the buyback. I'm not certain but I think that may be because the buying of ANH shares are not done on a perfect month ending day. For instance, the time frame for a purchase may begin on December 15 and end on January 15th. I also think that the purchases may be done all at once for an average price over the preceeding however many days. But you should be able to come close and if you are a Charter shareholder you should find this monthly information very useful. We know that the company is repurchasing alot of shares and has been doing so for several years. So, what incremental value do you get from estimating monthly repurchase numbers, rather than waiting for the quarterly numbers that the company discloses? Well the most obvious benefit is the fact that you have an almost real time estimate of their market cap that is more accurate than if you didn't, which is shrinking by a half to three quarters percent every month at a constant share price. Not so obvious and probably more important is that you can deduce the trajectory of their ebitda growth before the market sees it if you know enough about the company (for example their target debt to ebitda ratio and their reluctance to go above 4.5 times unless there is a value creating acquisition). Lastly, as Liberty pointed out, it's fun.....I find that the more I think about it the more ideas I get about the little advantages of information. Most of this creative exercise will not give you precision but when combined with deep knowledge of mgmt (which I find comes from reading as many transcripts as I can find), their policies and the nature of the business, they can give you better probabilistic insight which is the name of the game imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJP Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 I think I mentioned on here (could have been somewhere else) that I went back with all of the monthly A/N numbers and tried to match it up to how many shares were bought back in a quarter, and they don't match really at all. It just seems like they sell some shares but not in direct proportion to the buyback. I'm not certain but I think that may be because the buying of ANH shares are not done on a perfect month ending day. For instance, the time frame for a purchase may begin on December 15 and end on January 15th. I also think that the purchases may be done all at once for an average price over the preceeding however many days. But you should be able to come close and if you are a Charter shareholder you should find this monthly information very useful. We know that the company is repurchasing alot of shares and has been doing so for several years. So, what incremental value do you get from estimating monthly repurchase numbers, rather than waiting for the quarterly numbers that the company discloses? Well the most obvious benefit is the fact that you have an almost real time estimate of their market cap that is more accurate than if you didn't, which is shrinking by a half to three quarters percent every month at a constant share price. Not so obvious and probably more important is that you can deduce the trajectory of their ebitda growth before the market sees it if you know enough about the company (for example their target debt to ebitda ratio and their reluctance to go above 4.5 times unless there is a value creating acquisition). Lastly, as Liberty pointed out, it's fun.....I find that the more I think about it the more ideas I get about the little advantages of information. Most of this creative exercise will not give you precision but when combined with deep knowledge of mgmt (which I find comes from reading as many transcripts as I can find), their policies and the nature of the business, they can give you better probabilistic insight which is the name of the game imo. Have you successfully traded around your monthly analysis? I'm asking out of curiosity, not to hassle you or to insist that what you're doing isn't worth your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I think I mentioned on here (could have been somewhere else) that I went back with all of the monthly A/N numbers and tried to match it up to how many shares were bought back in a quarter, and they don't match really at all. It just seems like they sell some shares but not in direct proportion to the buyback. I'm not certain but I think that may be because the buying of ANH shares are not done on a perfect month ending day. For instance, the time frame for a purchase may begin on December 15 and end on January 15th. I also think that the purchases may be done all at once for an average price over the preceeding however many days. But you should be able to come close and if you are a Charter shareholder you should find this monthly information very useful. We know that the company is repurchasing alot of shares and has been doing so for several years. So, what incremental value do you get from estimating monthly repurchase numbers, rather than waiting for the quarterly numbers that the company discloses? Well the most obvious benefit is the fact that you have an almost real time estimate of their market cap that is more accurate than if you didn't, which is shrinking by a half to three quarters percent every month at a constant share price. Not so obvious and probably more important is that you can deduce the trajectory of their ebitda growth before the market sees it if you know enough about the company (for example their target debt to ebitda ratio and their reluctance to go above 4.5 times unless there is a value creating acquisition). Lastly, as Liberty pointed out, it's fun.....I find that the more I think about it the more ideas I get about the little advantages of information. Most of this creative exercise will not give you precision but when combined with deep knowledge of mgmt (which I find comes from reading as many transcripts as I can find), their policies and the nature of the business, they can give you better probabilistic insight which is the name of the game imo. Have you successfully traded around your monthly analysis? I'm asking out of curiosity, not to hassle you or to insist that what you're doing isn't worth your time. Yes but cannot say for sure the extra money made is related to the filings and in fact didn't trade the position based on the filings. I have a large core holding (large relative to my invested assets) that I have been regularly adding to since buying it in the 160-180 rangeand about 20% of that has been sold and bought back a few times. The sales were only made when I think I have magical powers to guess that we are at a short term peak....and to manage the size of the position down because I keep buying whenever we get down under 300. So basically, up until now the buyback has just kept me confident in between quarters to continue buying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJDelphi Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Haven't listened to the podcast yet but seems very relevant considering 5G, Fiber, Backhaul etc. https://www.recode.net/2019/1/10/18175869/susan-crawford-fiber-book-internet-access-comcast-verizon-google-peter-kafka-media-podcast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreign Tuffett Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 I don't have a strong opinion on CHTR, but the bull case I keep seeing both here and on Twitter seems somewhat overly simplistic. A few thoughts, in no particular order: * I pay $45 per month for Comcast internet. I have an acquaintance who pays well over $200 per month for Comcast internet + landline phone + an extensive cable TV package ("Triple Play"). Let's take a page out of Bezos' playbook and ignore gross margin %, to focus on gross profit $. I'm skeptical that my friend's nearly $3000 annual cable bill produces only a marginally higher gross profit # for Comcast than my own $540 annual bill. * Most new cable sign ups that I've seen are done via a 12 or 24 month initial contract. Typically, unless you call and argue with a customer service rep, prices go up significantly for the same service once these initial contracts reach the end of their term. If the rate of cable video customer churn is increasing (which it appears to be), then lots of customers are probably downgrading to internet only once their initial contracts expire. This limits the ability of the cable companies to jack up the price and enhance the unit-level profitability of that customer. * Similarly, increased video customer churn means that the cable companies have to (in effect) amortize the cost of the initial truck roll and digital set top box over a shorter time frame. This damages the unit level economics of the business. * I agree with the bulls that consumer demand for broadband internet is fairly price inelastic. However, the industry has to be cautious when increasing prices due to the threat of further government regulation. There's a long history of government conflict with the cable industry, which is perhaps best epitomized by Al Gore calling John Malone "Darth Vader." * Finally, I think predicting what the 5G vs. fiber vs. cable picture is going to look like a decade from now is very, very difficult. My contract with Comcast referenced above recently expired. I called them, had a 10 minute conversation with an agent, and now have a new contract with identical terms (monthly price, internet speed, and term). Note that Comcast is my only option for high speed internet. This reinforces my thinking that the popular "cable internet is a natural monopoly with massive untapped pricing power" thesis, while not outright false, is overly simplistic. Maybe Big Cable is afraid of the government turning their business into a regulated utility? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awindenberger Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 I find it pathetic how little competition there is for high speed internet around much of the country. In my small town in Iowa we have not one, but two local companies that each offer 100mbps+ download speeds for $40-70/month. Then we also have Windstream and Mediacom trying to compete with their shitty 25-50mbps offerings at higher prices (but with triple play for people that haven’t moved to streaming yet. It’s amazing that in big cities many people only have one shitty option that can act as a monopoly and charge close to $100 monthly for slow internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG2008 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 I don't have a strong opinion on CHTR, but the bull case I keep seeing both here and on Twitter seems somewhat overly simplistic. A few thoughts, in no particular order: * I pay $45 per month for Comcast internet. I have an acquaintance who pays well over $200 per month for Comcast internet + landline phone + an extensive cable TV package ("Triple Play"). Let's take a page out of Bezos' playbook and ignore gross margin %, to focus on gross profit $. I'm skeptical that my friend's nearly $3000 annual cable bill produces only a marginally higher gross profit # for Comcast than my own $540 annual bill. * Most new cable sign ups that I've seen are done via a 12 or 24 month initial contract. Typically, unless you call and argue with a customer service rep, prices go up significantly for the same service once these initial contracts reach the end of their term. If the rate of cable video customer churn is increasing (which it appears to be), then lots of customers are probably downgrading to internet only once their initial contracts expire. This limits the ability of the cable companies to jack up the price and enhance the unit-level profitability of that customer. * Similarly, increased video customer churn means that the cable companies have to (in effect) amortize the cost of the initial truck roll and digital set top box over a shorter time frame. This damages the unit level economics of the business. * I agree with the bulls that consumer demand for broadband internet is fairly price inelastic. However, the industry has to be cautious when increasing prices due to the threat of further government regulation. There's a long history of government conflict with the cable industry, which is perhaps best epitomized by Al Gore calling John Malone "Darth Vader." * Finally, I think predicting what the 5G vs. fiber vs. cable picture is going to look like a decade from now is very, very difficult. My contract with Comcast referenced above recently expired. I called them, had a 10 minute conversation with an agent, and now have a new contract with identical terms (monthly price, internet speed, and term). Note that Comcast is my only option for high speed internet. This reinforces my thinking that the popular "cable internet is a natural monopoly with massive untapped pricing power" thesis, while not outright false, is overly simplistic. Maybe Big Cable is afraid of the government turning their business into a regulated utility? My wife and I cut our cord on the video package years ago. When we switched to internet only, it was about $40-50 cheaper. In a matter of 5-6 years, we are not back up to about $100 for monthly internet. My wife complains, I told her we own CHTR stock and eventually it will work out. I think that most people on the board here tend to be more proactive about calling up customer service and complaining. Personally, I would rather stab myself than talk to a customer service rep from a cable company. I suspect that most Americans are the same way. Frankly, we only have Spectrum in our building. So we literally have Cable or Verizon DSL as options. DSL is obviously not an option. As a reference, I manage a fund and wear all the hat of CIO, COO, and fund raiser. My wife works full time. We tend to have a "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" outlook on life. Oh yeah, having a baby boy eats into our tolerance for buillshit like talking to a customer rep. I suspect that $100 monthly for broadband internet is likely 80-90% gross margin. So it probably does generate more EBITDA than having to pay a content provider and extract 10-15% gross margin from the video content provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DooDiligence Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 * Finally, I think predicting what the 5G vs. fiber vs. cable picture is going to look like a decade from now is very, very difficult. Personally, I would rather stab myself than talk to a customer service rep from a cable company. I suspect that most Americans are the same way. Frankly, we only have Spectrum in our building. So we literally have Cable or Verizon DSL as options. DSL is obviously not an option. As a reference, I manage a fund and wear all the hat of CIO, COO, and fund raiser. My wife works full time. We tend to have a "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" outlook on life. Oh yeah, having a baby boy eats into our tolerance for buillshit like talking to a customer rep. I largely agree re: 5G however, https://www.multichannel.com/news/small-cells-play-big-role-charter-s-mobile-future-418196 -- I also agree that calling customer service is something most people will put off & this should give all cableco's a glimmer of switching cost. A monopolistic / oligopolistic environment adds to a reasonably sustainable business model. --- Anecdotally, I signed up with ATT for internet service in 2016 for $40/mo for 1 year. After a year, the cost went to $50 & it hasn't increased since then. Charter, under the guise of Spectrum, started sending me promotional mailers (not emailers but actual, in your snailbox mailers.) They're slick, 8 page, glossy pieces which offer internet + TV for $90/mo & unlimited wireless for $45/mo. When I go to the website to check availability they say "not in my area" & link me to Cox cable as an alternate provider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpioncapital Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Do we have any reason to believe cable oligopoly will persist? Many a monopoly from days past is no more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skanjete Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 5-min Malone interview about CHTR, CMCSA, Sky.. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/liberty-media-john-malone-on-comcast-verizon-and-charter.html Here's the full 55-min thing: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/watch-cnbcs-full-exclusive-interview-with-liberty-media-chairman-john-malone.html I watched the interview again, and I got the impression Malone has quite some criticism on Rutledge. cfr. min 43:00 where he makes the story about the 2 cookies and concludes : spending all your cash on supporting your stock is eating that cookie. Anyone agrees with this, or did I misinterpret what I heard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 5-min Malone interview about CHTR, CMCSA, Sky.. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/liberty-media-john-malone-on-comcast-verizon-and-charter.html Here's the full 55-min thing: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/watch-cnbcs-full-exclusive-interview-with-liberty-media-chairman-john-malone.html I watched the interview again, and I got the impression Malone has quite some criticism on Rutledge. cfr. min 43:00 where he makes the story about the 2 cookies and concludes : spending all your cash on supporting your stock is eating that cookie. Anyone agrees with this, or did I misinterpret what I heard? Actually if I remember correctly, Malone was encouraging Rutledge to go to a higher gearing with CHTR, I think Rutledge was more comfortable around 4, Malone wanted maybe 4.5x... If you don't buy back stock, you're basically reducing leverage, and that's not what Malone wants. The criticism was more about the timing of the buybacks than about the buybacks per se, IMO, but hindsight is always 20/20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter MacGavin Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 5-min Malone interview about CHTR, CMCSA, Sky.. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/liberty-media-john-malone-on-comcast-verizon-and-charter.html Here's the full 55-min thing: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/watch-cnbcs-full-exclusive-interview-with-liberty-media-chairman-john-malone.html I watched the interview again, and I got the impression Malone has quite some criticism on Rutledge. cfr. min 43:00 where he makes the story about the 2 cookies and concludes : spending all your cash on supporting your stock is eating that cookie. Anyone agrees with this, or did I misinterpret what I heard? You're right. The issue is about using CHTR capital to shrink the enterprise value, but drive up the stock price, instead of reinvesting to compete against Verizon and Google and ATT and Netflix etc by retaining the capital. Tom is pretty exasperated with the Time Warner cable acquisition. Probably is a lot of work and he didn't want to be involved in another merger or sale while all those talks were flowing (Verizon, Softbank overtures etc). In effect its easier for Malone (and us as investors) to tell Charter to integrate with a telco, but it basically means more stuff for Rutledge to deal with on top of still righting the ship with TWC. "eating the cookie, is taking up the stock price today with cash by shrinking the denominator..."delaying gratification is investing for future growth - playing defense against Verizon and others".. that's my interpretation of the whole thing. Tom effectively drove the board to not pursue another transaction when the overtures came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Q4: https://ir.charter.com/static-files/22f5a04e-9060-4d9a-8a35-0c428474e74a Fourth quarter revenues of $11.2 billion grew 5.9%, as compared to the prior year period, driven by residential revenue growth of 3.9%, commercial revenue growth of 4.5%, and advertising revenue growth of 34.1%. • Fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA1 of $4.2 billion grew 4.6% year-over-year, and 7.6% when excluding fourth quarter mobile revenue and operating expenses. • For the year ended December 31, 2018, revenues rose to $43.6 billion, 4.9% higher than in 2017. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $16.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, an increase of 5.0% compared to the prior year. Excluding mobile revenue and operating expenses in 2018, Adjusted EBITDA grew by 6.5% year-over-year. • Net income attributable to Charter shareholders totaled $296 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $9.6 billion during the same period last year. For the year ended December 31, 2018, net income attributable to Charter shareholders totaled $1.2 billion, compared to $9.9 billion in 2017. The year-over-year decrease in net income in the fourth quarter and for the year ended December 31, 2018 was primarily driven by a GAAP tax benefit from a reduction in the deferred tax liability as a result of Federal tax reform in 2017. • Fourth quarter capital expenditures totaled $2.4 billion and included $28 million of all-digital costs and $106 million of mobile-related capital expenditures. For the year ended December 31, 2018, capital expenditures totaled $9.1 billion, or $8.9 billion excluding mobile-related capital expenditures. • During the fourth quarter, Charter purchased approximately 4.3 million shares of Charter Class A common stock and Charter Communications Holdings, LLC ("Charter Holdings") common units for approximately $1.4 billion. For the year ended December 31, 2018, Charter purchased approximately 16.2 million shares of Charter Class A common stock and Charter Holdings common units for approximately $5.0 billion. Fourth quarter total residential and SMB customer relationships increased 248,000, compared to 209,000 during the fourth quarter of 2017. During the year ended December 31, 2018, total residential and SMB customer relationships grew by 3.5% to 28.1 million, and total residential and SMB Internet customers grew by 1.3 million, or 5.3% to 25.3 million, with 329,000 residential and SMB Internet customer net additions in the fourth quarter of 2018. Slides: https://ir.charter.com/static-files/62657171-fd98-4a31-9899-110e69c1020c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogermunibond Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Charter and Comcast setting themselves apart. Funny how Triple Play is becoming Single Play, but that Single Play is something you can't live without (at least until 5G fixed wireless in 202x). Fourth quarter cord cutting update, updated: AT&T: -391,000* Verizon: -46,000 Charter: -36,000 Comcast -29,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 5-min Malone interview about CHTR, CMCSA, Sky.. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/liberty-media-john-malone-on-comcast-verizon-and-charter.html Here's the full 55-min thing: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/watch-cnbcs-full-exclusive-interview-with-liberty-media-chairman-john-malone.html I watched the interview again, and I got the impression Malone has quite some criticism on Rutledge. cfr. min 43:00 where he makes the story about the 2 cookies and concludes : spending all your cash on supporting your stock is eating that cookie. Anyone agrees with this, or did I misinterpret what I heard? You're right. The issue is about using CHTR capital to shrink the enterprise value, but drive up the stock price, instead of reinvesting to compete against Verizon and Google and ATT and Netflix etc by retaining the capital. Tom is pretty exasperated with the Time Warner cable acquisition. Probably is a lot of work and he didn't want to be involved in another merger or sale while all those talks were flowing (Verizon, Softbank overtures etc). In effect its easier for Malone (and us as investors) to tell Charter to integrate with a telco, but it basically means more stuff for Rutledge to deal with on top of still righting the ship with TWC. "eating the cookie, is taking up the stock price today with cash by shrinking the denominator..."delaying gratification is investing for future growth - playing defense against Verizon and others".. that's my interpretation of the whole thing. Tom effectively drove the board to not pursue another transaction when the overtures came. you are spot on with this interpretation imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 5-min Malone interview about CHTR, CMCSA, Sky.. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/liberty-media-john-malone-on-comcast-verizon-and-charter.html Here's the full 55-min thing: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/14/watch-cnbcs-full-exclusive-interview-with-liberty-media-chairman-john-malone.html I watched the interview again, and I got the impression Malone has quite some criticism on Rutledge. cfr. min 43:00 where he makes the story about the 2 cookies and concludes : spending all your cash on supporting your stock is eating that cookie. Anyone agrees with this, or did I misinterpret what I heard? You're right. The issue is about using CHTR capital to shrink the enterprise value, but drive up the stock price, instead of reinvesting to compete against Verizon and Google and ATT and Netflix etc by retaining the capital. Tom is pretty exasperated with the Time Warner cable acquisition. Probably is a lot of work and he didn't want to be involved in another merger or sale while all those talks were flowing (Verizon, Softbank overtures etc). In effect its easier for Malone (and us as investors) to tell Charter to integrate with a telco, but it basically means more stuff for Rutledge to deal with on top of still righting the ship with TWC. "eating the cookie, is taking up the stock price today with cash by shrinking the denominator..."delaying gratification is investing for future growth - playing defense against Verizon and others".. that's my interpretation of the whole thing. Tom effectively drove the board to not pursue another transaction when the overtures came. you are spot on with this interpretation imo Based on the interviews with Malone, and possibly some with Winfrey or Zinterhofer (?, can't remember), it seems to me like the M&A overtures were all flawed in many ways. Softbank wanted to pay in Sprint shares at a valuation that wasn't that great, and Verizon's number probably wasn't high enough. I doubt that Rutledge would just kill a favorable deal because he doesn't want to bother with another integration; he could just take the money and let someone else be CEO. I think he really thought that he would do better by being patient and finishing the integration and letting FCF go up when all is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpioncapital Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 So we can assume they think it's worth at least the 500 offered before casually. Another 50 percent to go? ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogermunibond Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 What's the M&A field look like for CHARTER? Would Malone look to merger Charter with Liberty Global. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spekulatius Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 What's the M&A field look like for CHARTER? Would Malone look to merger Charter with Liberty Global. Liberty Global wouldn’t make sense, sine there wouldn’t be any synergies. Other than Verizon, I don’t see many natural merger partners. I don’t think that ATT can handle another acquisition and Comcast would not pass antitrust. I don’t even think that a merger with Verizon would pass antitrust. Maybe T-Mobile/ Sprint in a few years based on convergence of cable and wireless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkie518 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 What's the M&A field look like for CHARTER? Would Malone look to merger Charter with Liberty Global. Likely a wireless to wireline merger to avoid antitrust before regulators understand the tenor of consolidation...my guess would be Verizon or Sprint/Tmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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