A Time Warner Cable Shareholder Sues Over Comcast Deal

I wonder if this merger will actually come to be.....

Maybe, maybe not. But that will be decided by the FTC, the FCC, and the DOJ. This lawsuit is highly unlikely to affect the outcome.

Every time a merger is announced, someone will sue over it. We simply live in a litigious society.

If the plaintiff had been a big investment firm with the resources to launch a proxy fight, then it's a real fight to stop the merger. That would be news.

But if it's some random shareholder, then it's just a lottery ticket. If you search for "Breffini Barrett," you discover he is a psychologist in San Diego. If you then read the complaint filed in the Superior Court of New York, you discover that this was a filed as a class-action lawsuit, and that Mr. Barrett's attorneys are based in San Diego. Yup, same Breffini Barrett.

In other words, Mr. Barrett is a front, being used by some money-grubbing lawyers to try and get a cash settlement out of Time Warner Cable. Happens all the time with mergers. In fact, I'm surprised there's only one lawsuit. Sometimes we see three or four, by different law firms, all trying to get a piece of the action.

Corporate mergers are usually approved by more than 90% of the shares. Once this happens, it becomes almost impossible to stop a merger in court. Which is why I call it a "lottery ticket."

This may end up like the AT&T / T-Mobile deal.
If I was Time Warner, I would have put in some conditions such as a payout of $5 billion should the deal not go as planned (regulatory) , or require breakup/sale of assets to appease regulators.

Nope, not even close. The T-Mobile deal would have removed a competitor from many markets while the TWC deal has very little overlap.

While that is true that there is very little overlap - this would effectively be more similar to a Bell of the old - a single company with too much power/influence on the national level.

The only 'good' that can come of this - is a direct competitor to AT&T/Verizon - but they don't all sell the same products in the same markets either.

Yes but exclusive content is the issue at hand

such as the los angeles dodgers/ TWC deal.

too much power over exclusive content

The TWC Los Angeles Dodgers/Angels is similar to Cablevision + MSG - however, once you start adding in NBC/Universal + the size of the new Comcast - you'll find

a) Cost of 'exclusive' content to be through the roof for DTV/AT&T Uverse/FiOS and probably other companies - why - because they now 'own' it and can squeeze the competitors out.
b) OTA service / CATV service will disappear very quickly in favor of STB .
c) Caps will be implemented (TWC in all fairness were attempting this already)
d) Less opportunity for thinking outside the corporate box. Your service will be dictated to you (more than it already is).
e) Price increase. In theory, this should give HUGE savings to the consumer. If anything, Comcast was (and will be again) more expensive.

While I understand your point, content isn't even going to remotely play a factor in the merger as far as any reviewing agency is concerned. Sports is probably a bad example from a good citizen perspective, they are more scrupulous than Comcast and AT&T combined with how they operate their business and availability.

And TWC would in return pay $5 billion to comast if a deal the TWC board agreed to was broken up by TWC shareholders?
in any deal you'll find some unhappy they didn't get more or that the sale is happening at all.

The TWC board was determined to sell to someone, Comcast offered the best price and can actual pay it, unlike charter which was offering far more than they could afford at a much lower price.

I wonder if I can buy one share of TWC and join the lawsuit.

I wouldn't mind doing my part to stop this injustice!

They don't even have the same markets... How is it an injustice?

Hope this shareholder is ready for a tax audit.

That's what I was thinking!

...oh, the irony...

I'm surprised that no one is considering the fact they still compete in the whole US market and not just the state, city, etc. If this goes through it will lessen the competition in the whole US market for all cable, phone, and internet.

this is one reason america has turned to crap do to people like this all they want is money money money... I got news for you you cant take it with you you DIE a#@holes......

Maybe you've got something against leaving it for the ones you care about?

If you sign up for obamacare, you leave it to the state.

Um. How's that?

I guess if your insurance costs are higher, then you've given more money to the state. Not sure where else you are going with this.

The funny thing is my insurance prices dropped for better coverage by going through "obamacare" as well as everyone else i know.

This includes people of all age ranges from their 20's to 60's

Forbid we do what's right and ensure everyone has decent health insurance so those of us who have always kept it do not have to end up paying $7000+ for a short 1-2hr ER visit due to me subsidizing the ones who decided it was not important and couldn't pay their bill.

The thought process of some people still boggles my mind to this day.

What about the people who lost their plan/doctor? Guess you want to write them off despite the promises made.

What about the promised premium savings of $2500? Didn't happen, but whatever.

All lies.