Cablevision is selling itself to the European telecommunications giant Altice for nearly $18 billion, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported.
The deal, expected to be announced as soon as Thursday, comes not long after Charter Communications agreed to buy Time Warner Cable and AT&T bought DirecTV.
The New York Times describes Cablevision as "one of the last remaining trophies of the American cable industry."
Altice, owned by a French billionaire, has made its intention to move into the US cable market clear: It bought Suddenlink Communications in May, and was reportedly in talks to buy Time Warner Cable before Charter sealed the deal.
Cablevision was founded by Charles Dolan in the 1960s; it's currently run by his son, James.
The Altice deal for Cablevision would end Jimmy Dolan's 20-year run as CEO. Nice way to exit the business his dad founded.
— Anupreeta Das (@PreetaTweets) September 17, 2015SEE ALSO: AT&T just got the green light to buy DirecTV in $48.5 billion deal
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's the type of info hackers have after breaking into the extramarital hookup site Ashley Madison