BENGALURU: Comcast Corporation’s merger agreement with Time Warner Cable and its transactions agreement with Charter Communications, Inc have been terminated on the back of increasing pressure from regulators. The Time Warner Cable deal was worth $ 45.2 billion.

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said, “Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away. Comcast NBCUniversal is a unique company with strong momentum. Throughout this entire process, our employees have kept their eye on the ball and we have had fantastic operating results. I want to thank them and the employees of Time Warner Cable for their tireless efforts. I couldn’t be more proud of this company and I am truly excited for what’s next.”

Comcast and Charter Communications had announced in April 2014 that the companies had reached an agreement on a series of tax-efficient transactions, whereby the combined Comcast-Time Warner Cable entity, following completion of Comcast’s previously announced merger with Time Warner Cable, would divest systems resulting in a net reduction of approximately 3.9 million video customers. The divestiture was to follow through on Comcast’s willingness to reduce its post-merger managed subscriber total to less than 30 per cent of total nationalmultichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) subscribers, while maintaining the compelling strategic and financial rationale of its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable. With the merger between the two companies called off, the Charter Communications deal is also off.

Time Warner Cable and Comcast Corporation mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement. 

In an official statement, Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Robert D. Marcus said, “We have always believed that Time Warner Cable is a one-of-a-kind asset. We are strong and getting stronger. Throughout this process, we’ve been laser focused on executing our operating plan and investing in our plant, products and people to deliver great experiences to our customers. Through our strong operational execution and smart capital allocation, we are confident we will continue to create significant value for shareholders. I’m extremely proud of the professionalism, dedication and resiliency our 55,000 employees have shown over the past year and thank them for their continued commitment to Time Warner Cable.”