Patrick Drahi, the billionaire behind telecoms and media group Altice, agreed on Monday to buy historic art auction house Sotheby's in a deal worth $3.7 billion on an enterprise value basis.

Sotheby's said it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by BidFair USA, an acquisition vehicle set up by Drahi, which had offered $57 in cash per share to buy out Sotheby's.

The offer represented a premium of 61% to Sotheby's closing price on Friday. It will also result in Sotheby's returning to private ownership after 31 years as a public company whose shares were traded on the New York market.

The acquisition will also allow avid art collector Drahi to join rival French billionaire Francois Pinault at the top of the art world, with Pinault's financial holding company Artemis owning a majority stake in Sotheby's rival Christie's.

"Patrick Drahi is one of the most well-regarded entrepreneurs in the world, and on behalf of everyone at Sotheby's, I want to welcome him to the family," Sotheby's chief executive Tad Smith said in a statement.

"This acquisition will provide Sotheby’s with the opportunity to accelerate the successful program of growth initiatives of the past several years in a more flexible private environment. It positions us very well for our future and I strongly believe that the company will be in excellent hands for decades to come with Patrick as our owner," he added.

Sotheby's about five years ago ended a long-running fight with activist investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point, by asking Loeb and two associates to join the Sotheby's board, and Loeb was instrumental in hiring Smith as CEO.

Loeb, a prominent art collector, on Monday, praised the sale.

The price "affirms the value we saw when we first invested in Sotheby’s, and rewards long-term investors like Third Point who believed in its potential," Loeb told Reuters.

BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley advised Drahi's Bidfair vehicle on the deal, while LionTree Advisors worked on behalf of Sotheby's.

Sotheby's was founded in London in 1744, and expanded overseas in the 20th century, moving to New York in 1955, Asia and France in 2001.

Famous items sold by Sotheby's include the collections of the late Duchess of Windsor, the personal collection of artist Andy Warhol and Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" in 2012.

Patrick Drahi, the billionaire behind telecoms and media group Altice, agreed on Monday to buy historic art auction house Sotheby's in a deal worth $3.7 billion on an enterprise value basis.

Patrick Drahi, the billionaire behind telecoms and media group Altice, agreed on Monday to buy historic art auction house Sotheby's in a deal worth $3.7 billion on an enterprise value basis. Sotheby's said it had signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by BidFair USA, an acquisition vehicle set up by Drahi, which had offered $57 in cash per share to buy out Sotheby's. The offer represented a premium of 61% to Sotheby's closing price on Friday. It will also result in Sotheby's returning to private ownership after 31 years as a public company whose shares were traded on the New York market. The acquisition will also allow avid art collector Drahi to join rival French billionaire Francois Pinault at the top of the art world, with Pinault's financial holding company Artemis owning a majority stake in Sotheby's rival Christie's. "Patrick Drahi is one of the most well-regarded entrepreneurs in the world, and on behalf of everyone at Sotheby's, I want to welcome him to the family," Sotheby's chief executive Tad Smith said in a statement. "This acquisition will provide Sotheby’s with the opportunity to accelerate the successful program of growth initiatives of the past several years in a more flexible private environment. It positions us very well for our future and I strongly believe that the company will be in excellent hands for decades to come with Patrick as our owner," he added. Sotheby's about five years ago ended a long-running fight with activist investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point, by asking Loeb and two associates to join the Sotheby's board, and Loeb was instrumental in hiring Smith as CEO. Loeb, a prominent art collector, on Monday, praised the sale. The price "affirms the value we saw when we first invested in Sotheby’s, and rewards long-term investors like Third Point who believed in its potential," Loeb told Reuters. BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley advised Drahi's Bidfair vehicle on the deal, while LionTree Advisors worked on behalf of Sotheby's. Sotheby's was founded in London in 1744, and expanded overseas in the 20th century, moving to New York in 1955, Asia and France in 2001. Famous items sold by Sotheby's include the collections of the late Duchess of Windsor, the personal collection of artist Andy Warhol and Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" in 2012.

Billionaire Patrick Drahi agrees to buy Sotheby's in $3.7 billion deal

Billionaires and private donors pledged hundreds of millions of euros on Tuesday to help rebuild <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wionews.com/world/fire-breaks-out-at-notre-dame-cathedral-in-paris-210725&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjfmKulqdThAhUIKo8KHd67CfUQFggFMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;usg=AOvVaw0ILqi3tQGdeMoamT2CuGzq">Notre-Dame cathedral </a>in Paris which has been devastated by fire.

President Emmanuel Macron has vowed the emblematic monument will be rebuilt after its spire and roof collapsed Monday night in a blaze thought to be linked to extensive renovation work.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault announced Tuesday that he and the LVMH luxury conglomerate he controls would give $226 million&nbsp;for the reconstruction efforts.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eAwWGjBZlg8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The pledge came after Arnault's crosstown rival Kering, the fashion group founded by fellow billionaire Francois Pinault, offered 100 million euros to help "completely rebuild Notre-Dame".

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also said Tuesday that the city would unlock 50 million euros, and would propose holding an international donors' conference in the coming weeks to coordinate the pledges to restore the gothic architectural masterpiece.

The privately run French Heritage Foundation has already launched a call for donations on its website, while several pages were set up on the Leetchi fundraising portal.

The Ile-de-France region comprising the greater Paris region is to provide another 10 million euros.

Wooden beams offered&nbsp;

Specialised craftsmen and rare materials are also expected to be needed to restore the monument, which welcomes more than 13 million visitors each year -- an average of more than 35,000 people a day.

The head of a French lumber company told FranceInfo radio that it was ready to offer the best oak beams available to rebuild the intricate lattice that supported the now-destroyed roof, known as the "Forest".

"The work will surely take years, decades even, but it will require thousands of cubic metres of wood. We'll have to find the best specimens, with large diameters," Sylvain Charlois of the Charlois group in Murlin, central France, told the radio station.

The United Nations' Paris-based cultural agency UNESCO has also promised to stand "at France's side" to restore the site, which it declared a world heritage site in 1991.

"We are already in contact with experts and ready to dispatch an urgent mission to evaluate the damage, save what can be saved and start elaborating measures for the short- and medium-term," UNESCO's secretary general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement Tuesday.

Done in years?&nbsp;

The painstaking renovation work is likely to cost hundreds of millions of euros over several years, if not decades, though experts breathed sighs of relief that the damage was not even worse.

But many officials were urging the government to mobilise the resources to quickly restore the cathedral.

"Since yesterday I've been hearing that it will take a decade, what nonsense!" former culture minister Jack Lang told AFP outside the church on Tuesday.

He called instead for an ambitious three-year project to rebuild the destroyed roof and its towering spire, which collapsed as a burning ember around two hours after the blaze erupted.

"You have to set a short deadline, as we've done in the past with other exceptional works," he said.

The gothic edifice had been undergoing an $12.4-million&nbsp;overhaul financed by the French state to repair the damage inflicted by time, pollution and the weather.

Billionaires and private donors pledged hundreds of millions of euros on Tuesday to help rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris which has been devastated by fire.

Billionaires and private donors pledged hundreds of millions of euros on Tuesday to help rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris which has been devastated by fire. President Emmanuel Macron has vowed the emblematic monument will be rebuilt after its spire and roof collapsed Monday night in a blaze thought to be linked to extensive renovation work. French billionaire Bernard Arnault announced Tuesday that he and the LVMH luxury conglomerate he controls would give $226 million for the reconstruction efforts. The pledge came after Arnault's crosstown rival Kering, the fashion group founded by fellow billionaire Francois Pinault, offered 100 million euros to help "completely rebuild Notre-Dame". Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also said Tuesday that the city would unlock 50 million euros, and would propose holding an international donors' conference in the coming weeks to coordinate the pledges to restore the gothic architectural masterpiece. The privately run French Heritage Foundation has already launched a call for donations on its website, while several pages were set up on the Leetchi fundraising portal. The Ile-de-France region comprising the greater Paris region is to provide another 10 million euros. Wooden beams offered Specialised craftsmen and rare materials are also expected to be needed to restore the monument, which welcomes more than 13 million visitors each year -- an average of more than 35,000 people a day. The head of a French lumber company told FranceInfo radio that it was ready to offer the best oak beams available to rebuild the intricate lattice that supported the now-destroyed roof, known as the "Forest". "The work will surely take years, decades even, but it will require thousands of cubic metres of wood. We'll have to find the best specimens, with large diameters," Sylvain Charlois of the Charlois group in Murlin, central France, told the radio station. The United Nations' Paris-based cultural agency UNESCO has also promised to stand "at France's side" to restore the site, which it declared a world heritage site in 1991. "We are already in contact with experts and ready to dispatch an urgent mission to evaluate the damage, save what can be saved and start elaborating measures for the short- and medium-term," UNESCO's secretary general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement Tuesday. Done in years? The painstaking renovation work is likely to cost hundreds of millions of euros over several years, if not decades, though experts breathed sighs of relief that the damage was not even worse. But many officials were urging the government to mobilise the resources to quickly restore the cathedral. "Since yesterday I've been hearing that it will take a decade, what nonsense!" former culture minister Jack Lang told AFP outside the church on Tuesday. He called instead for an ambitious three-year project to rebuild the destroyed roof and its towering spire, which collapsed as a burning ember around two hours after the blaze erupted. "You have to set a short deadline, as we've done in the past with other exceptional works," he said. The gothic edifice had been undergoing an $12.4-million overhaul financed by the French state to repair the damage inflicted by time, pollution and the weather.

Billionaires, private donors mobilise to rebuild Notre-Dame

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Billionaire Patrick Drahi agrees to buy Sotheby's in $3.7 billion deal

Billionaires, private donors mobilise to rebuild Notre-Dame