Spinning The MSG Spinoff

Madison Square Garden parent company Cablevision Systems may yet spin off the arena and its tenant sports teams but won’t be taken private, chairman Charles Dolan told shareholders during the firm’s annual meeting May 21.

Under questioning from shareholders, Dolan reiterated that the MSG assets are being considered for a spinoff to shareholders as a separate public company.

“During this difficult economic time, anything more ambitious than that is not appropriate,” Dolan said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Cablevision offered in 2007 to buy back its outstanding shares for $36.26 each, a price negotiated higher by shareholder groups. The offer failed a vote at a special shareholders meeting the same year.