Charter, Cox to merge in $34.5B deal

Charter Communications Inc. has agreed to combine with closely held Cox Communications in a cash-and-stock deal that would unite two of the biggest US cable providers.

The takeover values Cox at about $34.5 billion including debt, the companies said in a statement Friday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report.

The deal includes about $12.6 billion of net debt and $21.9 billion in equity, the companies said.

The combined company would be the top broadband operator in the U.S., and increase Charter’s subscriber base by more than 20%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Geetha Ranganathan. It also comes at a time when cable companies are facing increasing competition.

Wireless providers, such as AT&T and T-Mobile US, are luring away broadband customers with their own internet offerings. At the same time, streaming companies such as Netflix Inc. have upended the traditional business of pay-TV.

The Cox family will be the largest shareholder in the combined company, with a stake of about 23%, and will have seats on the board. Within a year of closing, the combined company will also change its name to Cox Communications.

CEO of of Wegovy maker resigns

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S, maker of blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy, said Friday its CEO was stepping down by “mutual agreement” with the company’s board of directors, citing “recent market challenges” and a steep decline in the company’s share price.

Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen’s departure comes a week after the company downgraded its sales and profits forecast, and follows a more than 50% decline in the company’s shares since mid-2024. Shares had skyrocketed after the introduction of Wegovy and diabetes medicine Ozempic, which are both based on the same basic ingredient, semaglutide.

The company said May 7 that Wegovy sales in the U.S. had been undercut by cheaper replica drugs produced by so-called compounding pharmacies using active ingredients of patented drugs in case of shortage.

Consumer sentiment continues to fall

U.S. consumer sentiment fell slightly in May for the fifth straight month, surprising economists, as Americans increasingly worry that President Donald Trump’s trade war will worsen inflation.

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, declined 2.7% on a monthly basis to 50.8, the second-lowest level in the nearly 75-year history of the survey. The only lower reading was in June 2022. Since January, sentiment has tumbled nearly 30%.

Americans have largely taken a sour view about where the economy is headed in the wake of the Trump administration’s imposition of huge import duties, which threaten to slow growth and push up prices. In recent weeks the White House has pulled back on its most draconian policies, though average duties are still high by historical standards.

The sentiment index for Democrats fell to 33.9 this month, the lowest since partisan data began in 1980 and far below the levels reached in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic or during the 2008-2009 Great Recession.

For Republicans, it’s 84.2, though that slipped from 90.2 in April and is the lowest since Trump’s election.

Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.