Cablevision Systems said Thursday that its board of directors has
authorized management to move forward with the leveraged spin-off of its
Rainbow Media Holdings programming unit to Cablevision's stockholders.
The
spin would be constructed as a tax-free pro rata distribution to
stockholders and is expected to be completed by mid-year 2011.
Cablevision said in November that it would explore a Rainbow spin. Cablevision also completed a spin-off of its Madison Square Garden unit earlier this year.
"We
believe this will provide both Cablevision and Rainbow with greater
flexibility to freely pursue their own strategic objectives and
individual business plans, while allowing investors to more clearly
evaluate each of the separate companies' assets and future potential,"
Cablevision CEO James Dolan said in a statement.
