Telecom company to buy Cablevision

Cablevision shares closed today at $28.54, and wrapped after-hours trading up 16.1%, to $33.12.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Drahi’s talks with Cablevision earlier Wednesday, citing unidentified people.

Not including Cablevision’s debt, Altice will pay about $10 billion in cash – or $34.90 per share – for the Bethpage, N.Y.-based company that is controlled by the Dolan family, the source said, speaking anonymously because the deal is still not completed.

With the Altice deal, Dolan would be handing control to a group of Europeans who also snapped up Suddenlink, a cable provider with 1.5 million homes, earlier this year.

Cablevision offers its Optimum digital cable television service in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

The New York Times describes Cablevision as “one of the last remaining trophies of the American cable industry”.

Altice entered the USA cable market in May, when it bought Suddenlink Communications in a deal valuing the company at $9.1 billion. “I think Altice is probably confident they could take out a lot of cost synergies, which we estimate is $350 million plus”. That comes after Comcast walked away from a combination with Time Warner Cable because of regulatory pushback.

Like other pay-TV operators, Cablevision’s video business continues to lose customers as they turn to online streaming.

But now, with patriarch Charles Dolan all but retired and James busy serving as the executive chairman of MSG and on the board of family-controlled AMC Networks, many are saying the time is right for the family to sell one of the pieces of its sports, media and entertainment empire. It also has operations in Belgium, Switzerland, Israel and elsewhere. Altice also is aggressive about cutting costs.