John Malone, Charter directors settle suit linked to Time Warner Cable deal – reports

John Malone and former colleagues on the Charter Communications board have agreed to an $87.5 million settlement stemming from claims that Malone unfairly benefited from Charter's 2016 acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg reported.

In the seven-year-old lawsuit, investor Matthew Sciabacucci accused the Charter directors of allowing Malone to "reap unfair tax benefits from stock he got in the merger through a side deal," securing "special benefits other Time Warner Cable stockholders didn't get," Bloomberg explained.

Figure 1: The case reportedly had been set for trial last month, but was cancelled.
(Source: Ivan Kmit/Alamy Stock Photo)

According to court documentation, the suit alleged breach of duty in connection with an additional transaction by which Malone's Liberty Broadband, Charter's largest stockholder at the time, received a 6% voting proxy. Charter's TWC acquisition was financed partly with $4.3 billion from Liberty, the report added.

As part of the settlement, the directors aren't admitting any wrongdoing linked to the deal. Cash involved in the settlement will "come from insurance covering directors named in the lawsuit" and go to Charter, and not to the shareholder who filed the case, Bloomberg noted, citing court documents filed Friday (March 3) with a Delaware court.

The defendants in the case settled to "avoid the burden, expense, disruption, and distraction of further litigation," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

A Malone representative and a Charter official declined comment.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading