Comcast's recent attempt at acquiring Time Warner Cable and creating a super internet service provider was recently cancelled by Comcast after a number of reports came that the Department of Justice and FCC opposed the deal. Before it pulled the plug, however, Comcast invested millions into making the proposed merger work. But how much did the internet service provider actually pay? 

Comcast recently released its financial results for the first quarter of 2015, which included an entry that accounts for $99 million that the company spent on "transaction related costs."  Those aren't Comcast's only "transaction-related costs," though. The internet service provider spent another $99 million in Q4 2014, $77 million in Q3 2014, $44 million in Q2 2014 and $17 million in Q1 2014. 

But what exactly did the costs include?  

"The costs are mainly for legal fees and outside consulting firms - everything from Human Resources and IT consulting to banks and management consulting services. ... Communications and lobbying fees would be included - however, what is included has to be direct and incremental - so only those fees that are directly and incrementally associated with the deal," Comcast VP of Government Communications Sena Fitzmaurice told Ars Technica.  

Comcast isn't the only party who has lost money on the attempted merger. Time Warner Cable also lost $200 million due to costs related to the proposed merger, and a significant portion of that includes maintaining some employees who otherwise would have been let go in the process.