Comcast Bids for Remainder of Jones Intercable’s Shares

PHILADELPHIA — Comcast Corp., the No. 3 U.S. cable-TV company, on Wednesday expanded its offer for Jones Intercable Inc. and agreed to buy all of the 61% that it doesn’t already own for $3.2 billion in stock.

Comcast would exchange 1.4 shares of its Special Class A stock for each Jones common and Class A share, or about $73.06 each. That’s 15% more than Tuesday’s closing price of Jones common stock and 9.2% more than its Class A shares. It also would assume about $1.6 billion in Jones debt.

The acquisition would increase Philadelphia-based Comcast’s coverage of the U.S. mid-Atlantic region and comes as cable companies build larger regional subscriber groups, or clusters, to cut costs and offer new digital services. Comcast would have about 8.2 million customers after adding Jones’ 1.3 million in 17 states including California.

“Geographically, it makes sense, with the opportunities to operate more efficiently and roll out more services,” said Richard Read, an analyst at Credit Lyonnais Securities Inc. with a “buy” rating on Jones. “Comcast will be modernizing faster than Jones was.”

Comcast had acquired its 39% stake in Jones last April.

Comcast Special Class A shares rose $1.06 to close at $48.94 on Nasdaq. Jones common shares rose $6.25 to close at $69.50, and its Class A shares rose $3.13 to close at $70, also on Nasdaq.