INTERESTING story about the Cablevision...

[salsadancer7]

....this was posted in the Long Island Business News:

www.libn.com/breakingNews_detail.cfm?id=3532

Analyst: New Cablevision bid a move for independence

Apr. 19 2005 -- 3:53:01 PM EST
by KEN SCHACHTER
BETHPAGE - Cablevision Systems' new $17.1 billion bid for Adelphia Communications indicates that the Long Island company wants to remain independent and grow through acquisitions, an analyst said.

[COLOR=Red]If Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) fails to snatch Adelphia (OTC: ADELQ) from a rival alliance of Comcast and Time Warner, Cablevision is likely to be acquired "in a year or so," said telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. [/COLOR] "Just when we thought the deal was done and Adelphia was going to be acquired by Comcast and Time Warner, Cablevision ups their bid so the company is still in play," Kagan said in an e-mail.

The Wall Street Journal and Reuters quoted unnamed sources in saying that Cablevision had increased its bid for Adelphia, the country's fifth-largest cable operator, from $16.5 billion to $17.1 billion. Time Warner and Comcast are reportedly bidding $17.6 billion. But Cablevision is reportedly offering an all-cash deal, while the Time Warner-Comcast offer is a mix of cash and stock.

 

[Silas]

Adelphia sticks with TW-Comcast

Despite a revised $17.1 billion offer from Cablevision Systems Corp., Adelphia Communications Corp. still favors the $17.6 billion offer from Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp., according to a regulatory filing the troubled cabler made late Tuesday, April 19.

The filing, made in advance of April 20's hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, states that, "At this juncture, [Adelphia's board believes] that the bid submitted by Time Warner in conjunction with Comcast is the bid most likely to maximize the value of distributable proceeds to [Adelphia's] stakeholders and compares favorably to the value to be realized under the amended plan [of reorganization]."

But that doesn't mean that Judge Robert Gerber, who has been overseeing Adelphia's Chapter 11 proceedings, or Adelphia's creditors have the same view. And since the deal with Time Warner-Comcast isn't definitive, Cablevision's all-cash bid, which a source familiar with the auction confirmed, may be enough to stall approval.

Adelphia agreed in principle roughly two weeks ago to a deal with Time Warner-Comcast valued at between $17.6 billion and $18 billion. A source familiar with the bid said about $12.5 billion of it will be paid in cash, with Time Warner contributing $10.5 billion and Comcast the rest. The remaining $5 billion to $5.5 billion is to be paid in the stock of a new company created from Time Warner's and Adelphia's assets after the deal closes.

The question likely to take center stage at today's hearing is whether Time Warner-Comcast are entitled to a breakup fee if their offer isn't approved, according to William Rochelle, a bankruptcy partner with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

"Since the Time Warner-Comcast deal is only in principle, the judge will have to decide if Cablevision's offer is real enough to feel comfortable forgoing a bust-up fee," Rochelle said.

Adelphia is so in favor of the Time Warner-Comcast proposal that its Tuesday 8-K filing notes that the company wants the court grant it authority to pay such a fee — in the amount of 2.5% of the company's ultimate purchase price — if the deal falls through. According to the filing,

"The debtors [Adelphia] are seeking authority, in the exercise of their business judgment, and in the context of attempting to reach definitive [agreements] with each of Time Warner and Comcast, to agree to the payment of the breakup fee … "

Adelphia also seeks court approval of a no-shop requirement and extended termination provisions, both of which suggest that Adelphia not only favors the Time Warner-Comcast bid, but also prefers to dispatch of Cablevision's offer without further negotiation.

Representatives for Comcast and Time Warner declined comment. An Adelphia press official did not return a call for comment.

 

[salsadancer7]

...And the plot thinkens....I tell ya Cablevision should have their OWN HD channel...!!!