Charter Communications stock soared more than 10% Monday after a report in the Wall Street Journal said Liberty Media, headed by cable legend John Malone, was planning to acquire a 25% interest in the mid-sized market MSO for an estimated $2.5 billion.
Citing unnamed sources, the Journal said Liberty was close to acquiring the stake, but offered no further details.
Charter shares soared on the news - the stock was up as much as 10.5% ($9.49 per share) to $99.50 each in early Monday trading, settling down slightly to $96.10 per share by the afternoon, up 6.6% or 6.1%.
Officials at Charter and Liberty each declined to comment.
If a deal is announced, it would be Liberty Media's first foray into U.S. cable distribution since it was part of Tele-Communications Inc., more than two decades ago. TCI was sold in 1999 to AT&T for about $49 billion.
