GAMCO to Vote Against Cablevision Bid
Fund Manager Gabelli’s Co. Owns 8.28% of Cable Operator’s Outstanding Class-A Shares
By Jon Hemingway -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/15/2007 5:22:00 AM
With the shareholder vote scheduled for Oct. 24, the takeover bid for Cablevision Systems by founder and chairman Charles Dolan and his son and CEO James is meeting some resistance.
Fund manager Mario Gabelli is planning to vote against the plan to take the company private in a $10.6 billion deal. In a blog posting on the GAMCO Investors Web site, Gabelli disclosed a letter to Charles Dolan stating that GAMCO’s “clients are best served by staying the course in Cablevision.” In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday, GAMCO reported that it would vote against the proposed transaction.
In the GAMCO filing, the total number of shares listed under management represents 8.28% of the outstanding class-A shares of Cablevision.
The Dolans are looking to take the company private in a transaction that will pay shareholders $36.26 per share. The stock closed Friday at $34.43.
Some industry analysts have said the deal undervalues Cablevision. Sanford C. Bernstein’s Craig Moffett noted in a research piece last month that the “free-cash-flow prospects for the business support a much higher warranted valuation.”
