Cablevision Systems to buy Bresnan Communications for $1.36 billion

Cablevision Systems Corporation, the fifth-largest cable provider in the US, today said it is acquiring privately held cable services operator Bresnan Communications, in which private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Quadrangle Group have a stake, in all-cash deal valued at $1.36 billion.

Comcast holds a 30-per cent stake in Bresnan.

New York-based Cablevision, which had revenues of $7.8 billion in 2009, is a leading telecommunications, media and entertainment company that operates advanced digital television, voice and high-speed internet services, owns local media and programming properties, and some of the the most-watched national television networks in the US.

Its cable television operations serve approximately 5 million households and businesses in the New York metropolitan area. Through its subsidiary, Clearview Cinemas, it owns the famed Ziegfeld Theatre, a popular and historic site for film premieres.

New York-based Bresnan, is s a broadband telecommunications provider serving over 320,000 customers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah.

Bresnan was acquired in 2003 by a group of investors led by Providence Equity Partners, Quadrangle Group and Bresnan's founder William Bresnan, who died last year, for $525 million from Comcast, which retained a 30-per cent stake.