Cable and high-speed Internet services provider Cox Communications Inc. said Wednesday that its board formed a special committee of independent directors to consider a proposal from majority shareholder Cox Enterprises Inc. to take the company private in a $7.9 billion buyout.
As reported, controlling holder Cox Enterprises has offered to purchase the remaining 38 percent of Cox Communications' Class A shares that it doesn't already own for $32 per share in cash. As Cox Communications' share price has risen since the proposal was announced Aug. 2, some have speculated that Cox Enterprises may have to sweeten the deal to corral investors. Shares of Cox Communications closed Tuesday up 11 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $32.78 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares had traded as high as $33.16 per share directly following news of the bid.
Special committee members Janet Clarke, Rodney Schrock and Andrew Young have hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. as the company's financial advisor and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as its legal advisor to assist in evaluating the proposal.