Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Latham & Watkins have been called in to advise on Charter Communications’ combination with cable peer Cox Communications in a deal worth around $34.5bn.

Watchtell is counselling Charter on the transaction, while Latham is advising Cox.

The deal will create a US mobile and broadband leader, with Charter acquiring Cox’s commercial fibre and managed IT and cloud businesses, while Cox’s residential cable business will be housed in Charter’s subsidiary partnership Charter Holdings. Cox Enterprises – Cox Communication’s family owner – will receive $4bn in cash, $6bn of convertible notes and 33.6 million common units of Charter’s existing partnership, valued at $11.9bn, which can be exchanged for Charter common shares. The combined entity will also assume Cox’s roughly $12bn of debt.

Latham’s team is led by M&A partners Brad Faris in Chicago and Victoria VanStekelenburg in Washington DC alongside communications partner Matthew Brill, also in Washington.

Chris Winfrey, president and CEO of Charter, said: “Cox and Charter have been innovators in connectivity and entertainment services – with decades of work and hundreds of billions of dollars invested to build, upgrade and expand our complementary regional networks to provide high-quality internet, video, voice and mobile services.”

He also said the deal would support efforts to repatriate jobs to the US, a key pledge of the Trump administration.

Winfrey added: “We will continue to deliver high-value products that save American families money, and we’ll onshore jobs from overseas to create new, good-paying careers for US employees that come with great benefits, career training and advancement, and retirement and ownership opportunities.” 

The transaction – which is subject to regulatory approval – is Charter’s second in the past year after it agreed to buy Liberty Media’s broadband business last November. Charter expects both deals to close at the same time. Wachtell also repped Charter on that deal, while O’Melveny & Myers advised Liberty Broadband.

The latest deal comes after the strongest opening quarter of deal making by value in three years. Worldwide M&A activity clocked in at $885bn in the first quarter, 15% higher than the same period in 2024, according to the London Stock Exchange Group.

Citi and LionTree are serving as financial advisors to Charter on this deal, while Allen & Company is serving as financial advisor to Cox Enterprises. BDT & MSD Partners, Evercore and Wells Fargo are serving as financial advisors to Cox Communications.