European telecommunications and cable company Altice has agreed to buy New York cable operator Cablevision for $17.7 billion, including debt, as it pursues its aggressive expansion in the U.S.

Cablevision CEO James Dolan said in a statement the family-controlled company considered that “the time is right for new ownership of Cablevision.”

Altice was advised by Sherman & Sterling. The firm's New York team was led by partners Creighton Condon and David Connolly and of counsel John Madden, M&A; and included partners Doreen Lilienfeld, executive compensation and employee benefits; Michael Benjamin, capital markets; and Alan Goudiss, litigation; counsel Harold Halbhuber, capital markets; and associates Richard Fischetti and Erik Lindemann, M&A; Mark Pereira, intellectual property; Nell Beekman, executive compensation and employee benefts and international associate Orla McMahon. Also participating were Paris partner Sami Toutounji, capital markets, and London partner, George Karafotias, M&A.