MSG moving ahead with plans to spin off the Knicks and Rangers

Madison Square Garden Co. said Thursday it is moving ahead with plans to spin off its sports franchises, which include the Knicks and Rangers, into a separate publicly traded company.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019, MSG said in a Thursday securities filing, adding that its executive chairman and chief executive, James Dolan, will hold the same title at both companies.

MSG said its remaining half will be comprised of a live entertainment business with venues including Madison Square Garden and the adjacent Hulu Theater, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre.

The live entertainment unit would also hold onto the Radio City Rockettes and a majority stake in Tao Group, a New York-based restaurant and nightclub empire. It would also retain a one-third interest in the spun-off sports company as well as $1 billion in cash.

The split will give its businesses greater “strategic flexibility to pursue their own distinctive business plan,” MSG said in a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MSG first revealed the plan in June, provoking speculation that the company could explore the sale of some of its teams. At the time, MSG said it had no plans on selling the Knicks or Rangers. The company reiterated that Thursday.

MSG, meanwhile, reiterated Thursday it is exploring a sale for its WNBA team, the New York Liberty, a plan it announced last November.

The split will “enable investors to more clearly evaluate each company’s assets and future potential, while providing both companies with increased strategic flexibility,” MSG said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It’s a trusted playbook for Dolan. In 2010, the New York media mogul split MSG from Cablevision, which he also owned at the time. Five years later, the assets were split again into MSG, which comprised its teams and venues, and MSG Networks. That business included regional sports channels MSG and MSG-Plus. In 2016, the Dolan family sold Cablevision to Altice.

“Under Jim’s leadership, MSG has generated significant value for shareholders, nearly doubling MSG’s stock price, equating to an increase of $3.5 billion in market cap, since MSG was spun from MSG Networks in 2015,” a spokeswoman said.

“Now Jim is charting the company’s path for future growth, driven by the creation of state-of-the-art live entertainment venues.”

MSG shares on Thursday recently were off 2.5 percent at $301.04.