Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications deny report of merger talks

Pedestrians walk past a Time Warner Cable customer service center in New York February 13, 2014. REUTERS/Joshua Lott

(Reuters) - Time Warner Cable Inc and Cox Communications Inc [COXC.UL] denied a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that Time Warner Cable had approached Cox Communications to discuss a potential merger. Cox Communications "did not show interest" in the discussions, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. "It's simply not true. We have not engaged in any discussions with Cox," Time Warner Cable's spokeswoman Susan Leepson told Reuters. Comcast Corp abandoned its $45 billion offer for Time Warner Cable on Friday, after U.S. regulators raised concerns that the deal would give Comcast an unfair advantage in the cable TV and Internet-based services market. A spokesperson for Cox Communications also said that the company was definitely not for sale. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)