Hedge fund won't be passive Cablevision investor

In a shot across the bow of the diversified cable operator, Harbinger Capital Partners Funds spokesman Charles Zehren said it is "looking at all options and hope to meet with the company in the very near future to discuss our thoughts."

Late Thursday, Harbinger and its affiliates disclosed in regulatory filings that it acquired nearly 19 million shares of Cablevision.

The 8.1 percent stake makes Harbinger the fourth-largest outside shareholder of the Bethpage, N.Y.-based company. That's up from a 4.9 percent stake based on all Class A shares outstanding as of June 30. The family of founder Charles F. Dolan owns the Class B shares.

Harbinger said in the most recent filing that Cablevision's stock is undervalued.

The hedge fund this year has shaken up two other companies in which it invests--Media General Inc. and the New York Times Co.--because it was unhappy with operating performance.

In April, Harbinger representatives won three seats on the board of Media General, a newspaper publisher and TV station operator, and the New York Times Co. agreed to nominate two Harbinger representatives to its board after Harbinger threatened a proxy fight.

Harbinger bought into Cablevision after the stock had run up to $29, so it must think shares are worth still more, said Tom Eagan, an analyst at Collins Stewart.

This year so far, Cablevision shares have climbed 32 percent.

Eagan said Harbinger could accelerate restructuring efforts at Cablevision. He expects the cable company to spin out its programming assets into a separate stock, which he believes would have a higher value traded separately.