MSG hires firm that defends against activist shareholders

Billionaire James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Co. has hired Teneo Holdings, a well-connected communications firm whose services include defending companies against shareholder activists, The Post has learned.

MSG, which owns the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, lately has fallen under increasing pressure from hedge funds to split or sell its assets, which also include the Garden, the Los Angeles Forum and the Rockettes.

Teneo’s services also include investment banking, management consulting and corporate restructuring, but “I think this is absolutely about defense,” a source who is following MSG’s recent dialogue with investors said of Teneo’s hire.

Shareholder Mario Gabelli said last week at a Yahoo Finance Summit, “You can buy MSG at $210 a share — they’ve got 24 million shares, that’s $4.8 billion, $1.4 billion in cash — and you get the Knicks for free based on the valuations [of their assets].”

Samantha Greenberg of Margate Capital said Oct. 19 that Dolan should take decisive action to bring full value to shareholders, believing the shares trade at a 43 percent discount to the company’s asset value.

There has been speculation that Dolan, whose family controls MSG’s voting stock, may be interested in buying some of MSG’s assets himself to take them private.

Dolan had a master plan in 2015 when he split his cable network from his other MSG-related assets. He hoped to sell the separately traded MSG regional sports cable network and use the proceeds to buy more or all of MSG, sources said.

But has not been able to find buyers for the cable network at an acceptable price, sources said.

Teneo’s recent clients include America’s biggest casino operator, Caesars Entertainment, which split its assets into two separate companies and then tried to persuade a bankruptcy judge and creditors it was the right decision.

Officials at MSG and Teneo declined to comment.