Cox Enterprises Inc. announced a $7.9 billion
proposal Monday to buy all outstanding publicly held shares of Cox
Communications Inc. in a bid to take the cable television, phone and internet service provider
fully private.
ATLANTA— Cox Enterprises Inc. announced a $7.9 billion
proposal Monday to buy all outstanding publicly held shares of Cox
Communications Inc. in a bid to take the cable-television provider
fully private.
Atlanta-based Cox Communications is the nations fourth-largest
cable company with about 6.3 million customers. The proposed move
would make Cox Communications a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises,
which is a private company.
Under the proposal, Cox Enterprises, which already owns about 62
percent of Cox Communications, would pay $32 a share to take
control of the remaining 38 percent of the cable provider.
The $32 price for shares of Cox Communications is 16 percent
higher than the stocks Friday close of $27.58.
"Our proposal represents an excellent opportunity for (Cox
Communications) shareholders, giving them the ability to receive a
meaningful premium to recent trading values," Cox Enterprises
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James C. Kennedy said in a
news release.
Cox, which operates in 15 states, has managed to transform
itself from a traditional cable operator into a provider of TV,
telephone and high speed Internet services. In 1997, it became one
of the first cable companies to offer phone service and today sells
phone service to more than 1.1 million customers.
VOIP & Telephony 
