Even though Cablevision, through a spokesperson, denies any plans to sell Knicks or Rangers, I don't find Dolan credible. So who knows. The Knicks do need better owners, imho.
WSJ.com - Cablevision Gets An Offer for Teams
An investment group led by Russell Glass, a financier who formerly worked for Carl Icahn, has sent a letter to Cablevision Systems Corp. offering to buy its sports teams, the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, for $700 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The group, which has obtained a letter of interest from General Electric Co.'s GE Commercial Finance unit to provide debt financing for the deal, said in the letter it also wants to bid for Cablevision's Madison Square Garden but didn't set a price, these people said.
Mr. Glass's letter to Cablevision, Bethpage, N.Y., dated Oct. 18, was received when the company was weighing a proposal from the controlling Dolan family to take Cablevision private and split off its entertainment assets including Madison Square Garden. The Dolan family withdrew the offer Oct. 25, but Mr. Glass's offer for the team still stands, people familiar with Mr. Glass's thinking said.Cablevision, which is also the country's sixth-largest cable operator, hasn't yet responded to the bid, these people said. A Cablevision spokesman said: “Cablevision has no plans to sell the Knicks and the Rangers and the inquiry does not look credible to us.”
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Cablevision is controlled by the Dolan family through a supervoting class of stock. James Dolan, chief executive of Cablevision, also is chairman of Madison Square Garden, the unit of the company that owns the arena, sports teams, sports networks and other entertainment assets.When the Dolan family dropped its plan to take the company private it proposed that the company pay shareholders $3 billion in a one-time dividend. The company would likely sell debt to raise that money, but some investors and analysts believe the company should instead sell assets like the sports teams.
Tags: Basketball, /Knicks
