Applications
John Malone revives cable interest as Liberty acquires 27.3% of Charter for $2.6 bn
MUMBAI: US billionaire John Malone‘s Liberty Media Corporation has acquired 27.3 per cent stake in Charter Communications, the fourth largest cable provider in the US, for approximately $2.6 billion.
The company has entered into a definitive agreement with investment funds managed by, or affiliated with, Apollo Management, Oaktree Capital Management and Crestview Partners to acquire approximately 26.9 million shares and approximately 1.1 million warrants in Charter Communications.
“We are excited to make this investment in Charter, the fourth largest cable provider in the US,” said Liberty President and CEO Greg Maffei. “Tom Rutledge and his team have done an impressive job of turning around Charter’s operations and improving its financial position. We look forward to working with Charter’s management team and fellow board members in the future.”
“We are pleased with Charter’s market position and growth opportunities and believe that the company’s investments in its high-capacity digital network which provides digital HD and on demand television, high-speed data and voice, will benefit its customers and shareholders alike,” said Liberty Chairman John Malone.
“This transaction reflects a solid endorsement of the strategy that Tom Rutledge and his team are implementing at Charter,” said Charter Chairman Eric Zinterhofer. “Apollo, Oaktree, and Crestview have created substantial value for Charter and its shareholders, and on behalf of Charter’s board, we look forward to working with Liberty Media in creating further value.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of the second quarter of 2013, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including expiration of the waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
Upon closing, funds managed by Crestview and Oaktree will hold approximately 7.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively of Charter’s common shares. Charter’s board of directors appointed a special committee of independent and disinterested directors to consider the transaction on behalf of the company.
In addition, Liberty Media agreed to, among other things, not increase its beneficial ownership in Charter above 35 per cent until January 2016 and 39.99 per cent thereafter.
Liberty also agreed not to engage in proxy solicitations for nominations to Charter’s board of directors through the 2015 shareholder meeting and continue to so refrain as long as its designees are nominated to the Charter board or the agreement is earlier terminated.
Charter entered into a stockholders agreement that among other things provides Liberty Media the right to designate up to four directors for appointment to the Charter board upon the closing of the transaction.
Liberty Media expects to designate John Malone, Chairman of Liberty Media; Gregory Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty Media; Nair Balan, EVP and CTO of Liberty Global; and Michael Huseby, CFO of Barnes & Noble.
Charter’s board of directors will appoint these directors subject to its normal review of director qualifications, and upon the resignation of Stan Parker, Darren Glatt, Bruce Karsh and Edgar Lee in connection with the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur sometime after Charter’s 2013 annual meeting of stockholders.
Jeffrey Marcus, a partner at Crestview, will remain on the board.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
