ATLANTA (AP) – Cox Enterprises Inc. announced a $7.9 billion proposal Monday to buy the public shares of Cox Communications Inc. and take the nation’s fourth largest cable TV provider private.

Shares of Cox Communications surged more than 21 percent on the news in morning trading.

Cox Enterprises, a private company that owns newspapers and telecommunications services, already owns 62 percent of Atlanta-based Cox Communications.

Under the deal, Cox Enterprises would purchase the remaining 38 percent and make Cox Communications a subsidiary.

Cox Communications, which has about 6.3 million cable customers, would continue to operate autonomously under the deal, said Cox Enterprises spokesman Bob Jiminez. Cox Radio Inc. will remain a publicly traded company, he said.

Under the proposal, Cox Enterprises would pay $32 a share to take control of the cable provider – 16 percent higher than the $27.58 at which Cox Communications’ stock closed on Friday.

Jimenez would not address reports that Cox Communications wants to become a privately held entity so it can compete with more stealth in the fiercely competitive cable industry.

“This deal allows us to focus our business more on the long-term, and not so much the quarterly numbers,” he said.