Dolans Lose Buyout Bid for Cablevision

Cablevision shareholders today rejected a bid by the Dolans, the company's founding family, to take the Long Island-based cable provider private. The family offered $10.6 billion, or $36.26 a share, below what major investors felt was the firm's value, the AP reports. Analysts valued the company, which also owns the Knicks, Rangers, Madison Square Garden, and Radio City Music Hall, at as much as $50 per share.

The Dolans control about 65% of voting shares, but  the sale required a majority of outside shareholders. The "no" vote was expected after ClearBridge Advisors, the largest outside shareholder, came out against the deal—the Dolans' third effort to take the company private. Cablevision CEO James Dolan put a positive spin on the rejection, calling it a "vote of confidence in the prospects of Cablevision."  (More Cablevision stories.)