Greatland Connections Inc. would arise from Comcast-TWC merger

Greatland Connections Inc., the publicly traded company that would inherit 2.5 million cable-TV subscribers disgorged by Comcast Corp., is seeking to trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker "GLCI."

Comcast shareholders would own 67 percent of Greatland.

Greatland will only come into existence if the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission approve Comcast's proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable company.

To make the deal palatable to federal regulators, Comcast agreed to spin off the 2.5 million subscribers to keep its national pay-TV market share under 30 percent.

The contentious regulatory review is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015.

Comcast officials on Monday declined to comment on the preliminary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for Greatland Connections, citing the agency's restrictions. The new information was contained in a regulatory filing Friday at the SEC.

Greatland lists its address in the corporate filing as Philadelphia, but it is expected to locate its offices outside the city, probably in the Midwest. It has a few employees but no building.

The company would begin its life as one of the nation's largest cable companies, with an estimated value of $5.7 billion and TV, Internet and phone subscribers, most in the Midwest.

The regulatory filing does not say how many shares will be sold as part of the offering, or their price.

If it had existed in 2013, Greatland would have had $4.5 billion in revenue and net income of $272 million.

Greatland would carry significant debt - $7.8 billion, or about five times the company's estimated earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes, and certain other expenses.

The company also would have a close relationship with Charter Communications Inc., which will own 33 percent of its equity. It's expected that Charter will eventually acquire majority control, effectively dividing the nation into two big cable-TV companies, Comcast and Charter.

215-854-5897

@bobfernandez1