Cablevision near deal to buy Newsday: source : US Business

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tribune Co is close to an agreement to sell its Newsday newspaper to Cablevision Systems Corp and an announcement could come as early as Monday, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

Newsday reported that the deal would be valued at $650 million, according to a report on the Long Island newspaper's website.

The agreement was expected after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said on Saturday it was withdrawing its $580 million bid for Newsday.

A Tribune spokesman declined to comment. Cablevision was not immediately available for comment.

While an agreement with Cablevision seemed imminent, it was unknown whether New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman, who has also bid $580 million for Newsday, would launch a higher bid at the last minute. A Daily News official had no comment.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan, Yinka Adegoke and Kenneth Li in New York and Jessica Hall in Philadelphia; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and John Wallace)

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