Cox selling assets covering 940,000 subscribers

<p>Cable provider Cox Communications Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to sell assets in certain small markets covering 940,000 subscribers to a cable television operator run by a Midwest management firm.</p><p>Terms of the deal between Atlanta-based Cox and Cebridge Connections, Inc., which is managed by Cequel III, LLC of St. Louis were not disclosed.</p><p>Cox announced in March that it was exploring the sale of these operations in order to reduce debt and accelerate growth.</p><p>The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2006.</p><p>The agreement includes cable television systems in West Texas, serving the Lubbock, Midland, Amarillo, San Angelo and Abilene areas; North Carolina, serving the Greenville, Rocky Mount, New Bern and Kinston areas; Humboldt County and Bakersfield, California; and much of Middle America Cox, primarily comprised of operations in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.</p><p>MAC also includes certain systems in Oklahoma, Mississippi and Missouri. Excluded from the sale are some MAC operations serving northwest Arkansas and the Lafayette, La., areas.</p><p>Once the deal is completed, Cebridge said it will become the eighth largest cable operator in the country, serving more than 1.3 million customers. Cox Communications, the nation's third-largest cable television provider, said it will have roughly 5.4 million basic cable subscribers following the divestiture.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cd99d4)</p>

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