Altice wins final regulatory approval to acquire Cablevision

New York state regulators approved European telecommunication group Altice NV's acquisition of Cablevision Systems Corp, a $17.7 billion deal that would create the fourth-largest US cable provider. The unanimous approval by the New York State Public Service Commission with conditions means the Dutch company has cleared the final regulatory hurdle to complete the transaction announced in September.

Altice said it was pleased with the approval and expects to close the deal by the end of the month. Cablevision has 3.1 million subscribers, mostly in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. In May, the Federal Communications Commission approved the Altice acquisition of Cablevision, saying it was in the "public interest" and noted Altice had vowed to invest to upgrade Cablevision broadband. New York regulators agreed to approve the deal if Altice agreed to pass 25 percent of the estimated $450 million in cost savings from the deal to subscribers over five years. The company is barred from laying off workers for four years in any customer-facing jobs in New York. The sale includes other Cablevision assets including the News 12 programming networks; Newsday, a Long Island daily newspaper; amNewYork, a free daily serving New York City; and Star Community Publishing, a publisher of weekly shoppers and community papers on Long Island.