GreenBkk.com Tech | Insight Comm buyer likely to be picked within month: report

Insight Comm buyer likely to be picked within month: report

Tue Jul 5, 2011 8:04pm EDT

(Reuters) - Insight Communications Co, controlled by The Carlyle Group, received final bids in its auction last week and a buyer will likely be picked within a month from bidders including WideOpenWest LLC and Mediacom Communications, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The final bids for the company -- the ninth largest cable operator in the United States -- came in just north of $3 billion, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Journal also said Cablevision Systems Corp, which had earlier expressed interest, has dropped out of the sale process for now, while Time Warner Cable Inc remained interested.

However, Time Warner is unlikely to bid for Insight unless the asking price falls below $3 billion, WSJ said citing one person familiar with the matter.

A few buyout firms are also interested and are looking at Insight's financial data to assess how much they can borrow to fund a purchase, the WSJ reported.

Neither Insight nor Cablevision could be reached immediately for comment. Time Warner declined to comment.

WideOpenWest did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment and Mediacom Communications could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Carol Bishopric)

Credit: Reuters (www.reuters.com)