Report: Charter's Rutledge and TWC's Marcus set meeting

Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) CEO Tom Rutledge will meet next week with his Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) counterpart, Rob Marcus, to discuss the possible merger between the two companies, according to CNBC, citing anonymous inside sources.

Courtship between the two companies has been moving quickly since Friday, when Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) backed out of its own agreement to buy TWC after federal regulators indicated strong resistance to the deal.

TWC has already started offering "Charter related materials" on top of the "Comcast related materials" on its investor relations site. The cable company will deliver its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday.

Charter's overtures to acquire TWC in 2013 and 2014 were considered hostile takeover attempts. However, TWC management is reportedly now open to a merger discussion with Charter, having just witnessed the regulatory outcome of a larger cable competitor trying to buy the company. 

Meanwhile, Charter's stock is up around 40 percent from when it last bid on TWC in January 2014 and is now seen by TWC as a much better currency. 

For more:
- read this CNBC report

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