Q & A with Irvin Brum

Altice recently purchased Cablevision, including Newsday and various other publications collectively known as Newsday Media Group, controlled by the Dolan family. When Patrick Dolan wanted to buy back Newsday and the other publications from Altice, he turned to law firm Ruskin Moscou Faltischek to get the deal done. We talked with Irvin Brum, chair of the Uniondale-based law firm's corporate and securities department, who with Adam Silvers led the team that helped make the sale happen.

Why wasn't Newsday separated from Cablevision in the original deal? Part of it is the ownership is different. Cablevision is a publicly held company. That's the simplest answer.

Was this deal done differently than others you've done? This deal has a unique aspect to it, because of Newsday. Companies get bought and sold all the time. But they don't garner the kind of interest that the sale of Newsday does.

What regulatory aspects are there? It's really very minimal and it's already been done. There's a little bit of an SEC component.

Why do you think Patrick Dolan, the new majority owner, was so interested in the deal? I think what's driving this is Patrick Dolan's desire to keep Newsday owned by Long Island people. Patrick Dolan is a news guy. He cares about Long Island and Newsday. I don't think Altice wanted to run Newsday, but by retaining a 25 percent stake, they obviously have an interest in it.

How will Patrick Dolan be involved with Newsday? I don't think he's a micromanaging type of person. But he has a vision that will be carried out.

Is it unusual that in addition to...