Cablevision Systems prices $900 million private placement of senior notes

Cablevision prices $900M senior notes offering

NEW YORK — Cablevision Systems Corp. on Wednesday said it priced a $900 million private placement of debt.

The company will sell 8.625 percent senior notes due 2017 at an issue price of 98.596 percent.

The offering, which was made to certain institutional investors, is expected to close on Sept. 23.

Cablevision intends to use the proceeds to purchase shares of common stock of its wholly owned subsidiary CSC Holdings Inc. The subsidiary in turn will use the proceeds from that sale to pay down debt.

Cablevision Systems is a cable television and Internet service provider, and owns several cable stations, including AMC, IFC and the Sundance Channel. In addition, it owns the newspaper Newsday and other publications. It also owns Madison Square Garden arena and the New York Knicks basketball team and New York Rangers hockey team, along with Radio City Music Hall and other venues.