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With federal regulators already approving the proposed merger with Cox Communications, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey on Wednesday pointed to a major hurdle remaining in its path.
“It’s no secret, we’re working through California as the big state that remains open,” Winfrey said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference on Wednesday after the Justice Department and FCC had already signed off on Cox’s proposed deal.
“We hope to have a productive conversation with them and those around the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) to expedite the shutdown process, for the benefit of consumers and employees as well,” he added.
In a February 17 filing with the CPUC, Charter asked the California regulatory agency to change its “lengthy action schedule” so that the cable and internet giant can meet a September 15, 2026 deadline set under federal law for large mergers to complete all antitrust reviews before the deal closes. Failure to meet this deadline could force Charter to resubmit a new federal filing for antitrust review.
In May 2025, Charter unveiled a $34.5 billion deal with Cox Communications to combine the companies and create a cable TV giant with greater reach in broadband Internet connectivity and video to take on the tech giants in the video and advertising spaces. The deal is expected to be completed in mid-2026 as Charter works to obtain regulatory approvals.
During an appearance at a Morgan Stanley conference, Winfrey spoke about a proposed acquisition that would see the combined entity take the Cox name and use the Spectrum brand name for the consumer market.
“This is a really great combination. They have complementary assets and capabilities to us, and vice versa. So the Cox deal represents kind of an unexpected synergy, not only from the scale of having a larger B2B business, but they have things like managed hospitality services that we don’t have in our enterprise footprint,” Winfrey said.
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