Dolan Deal for Cablevision Is on the Rocks

The Dolan family bid to take Cablevision private is on the verge of collapse, the New York Times reports, after James Dolan announced last night that the $10.6 billion bid won't be upped, and the company’s largest shareholder balked. ClearBridge Advisors, which owns 13.6% of shares, threatened to vote against the $36.26 a share offer next week, joining other dissenting institutional investors.

The Dolans, who control Cablevision but need 50% of the public shareholders to approve the deal, probably can’t afford to sweeten the pot, the Journal says. But non-institutional investors could still muster the votes to push it though.  “Any investor who has endured the pain of owning cable over the summer is going to be loath to sign up for another dose by voting this thing down,” said one analyst. (More James Dolan stories.)