Founders to buy out Cablevision

Cablevision owns New York's Radio City Music Hall

Cable TV firm Cablevision Systems has said it is going to be taken private in a deal valuing it at $22bn (£11.1bn).

Chairman Charles Dolan and his son James, the firm's chief executive, will buy the firm they founded - two years after they first made an offer.

As well as running cable TV throughout New York state, Cablevision owns Madison Square Gardens and the New York Knicks baseball team.

Most of the financing is coming from investment banks.

Other assets

The Dolan family said that delisting was intended to maintain "the company's track record of delivering quality service and innovative products".

"We believe the best way to continue this tradition in today's increasingly competitive environment is as a privately held company," it added.

The Dolan family, which currently owns 22.5% of Cablevision's shares and 70% of its voting rights, raised its offer by 34% from the $27 initially suggested in October to $36.26.

The company is the US's sixth-largest cable television operator.

Other Cablevision assets include the New York Rangers hockey team and New York's Radio City Music Hall.