Easier regulatory review seen for Altice vs Charter in Time Warner deal

A potential bid by French telecommunications group Altice SA to buy US cable company Time Warner Cable would pass regulatory hurdles more easily than an offer pondered by cable rival Charter Communications, according to analysts and experts. Altice, controlled by French billionaire Patrick Drahi, agreed to buy regional US cable company Suddenlink. It has also approached Time Warner Cable for a deal, according to people familiar with the talks. The moves come as Time Warner Cable, the second-largest US cable provider, is being circled by smaller rival Charter after Comcast, the biggest US cable operator, failed to get government approval for a merger over concerns that it would control Internet access of too many Americans.

Some analysts see regulatory hurdles for a possible Charter-TWC deal, especially after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler earlier in May said "more competition would be better" for cable companies providing broadband Internet. "Does the government want to create another Comcast?" BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield asked in a recent note on a possible Charter-Time Warner Cable merger. His answer leaned toward a no. A merger of Charter and Time Warner Cable, with other related deals, would eliminate one of the country's top Internet providers and control more than 20 percent of the broadband market, according to data from MoffettNathanson.