Comcast has reached an agreement to acquire Time Warner Cable in a deal that will have major ramifications for the cable market, as well as the media industry as a whole.

The news, first reported by CNBC's David Faber, would mark one of the largest acquisitions in history.

Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable in all stock deal worth $159 per $TWC share- sources. Deal set for tomorrow morning. Ratio is 2.875 $CMCSA. — DAVID FABER (@davidfaber) February 13, 2014

The all-share deal would value Time Warner Cable at around $158.82 per share, a 17% premium on its Wednesday closing price of $135.51. The total value of the acquisition is around $45 billion.

The deal, which would combine the largest and second-largest U.S. cable companies, will need to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, which could raise questions about the deal's impact on competitiveness in the cable industry.

Charter Communications had reportedly been working on a deal, but its offer of around $135 per share was deemed too low by Time Warner Cable. One of the more recent attempts at a media mega-merger — AT&T's attempted purchase of T-Mobile — was struck down by government regulators.

Consolidation in the cable industry has been expected by analysts, and pushed for by executives. Larger companies, it is claimed, would have a better chance of negotiating with content providers, leading to smaller bills for customers.

Critics say such a merger would reduce competition in an industry that is already dominated by large companies with little overlap or motivation to offer customers better terms.