(Telecompaper) Comcast has agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable, in a deal valuing the US' second-largest cable operator at USD 45.2 billion. TWC agreed to the offer worth USD 158.82 per share, after earlier rejecting a bid of USD 132.50 per share from the smaller Charter Communications. Comcast will pay all in stock for TWC, offering 2.875 of its own shares for each TWC share, giving TWC shareholders 23 percent of the combined company. The companies expect to generate synergies of USD 1.5 billion from integrating their operations; including these synergies, Comcast said the deal values TWC at 6.7 times operating cash flow. Comcast said it will sell operations with around 3 million subscribers in order to keep its market share below 30 percent after the takeover. This will give it a net 8 million new customers from TWC, for a total base of 30 million. Pending regulatory and shareholder approval, the deal is expected to close by the end of 2014.