Harron Gains Majority of Gans

Harron Entertainment Co. has agreed to purchase a majority interest in Gans Communications LP from private-equity group Nautic Partners LLC for an undisclosed sum.

Gans has about 42,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

Denver-based cable investment banker Daniels & Associates is serving as financial adviser to Gans in the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Harron, formerly Harron Communications, operates cable systems in 32 communities in Maine and New Hampshire with about 70,000 subscribers under the MetroCast name.

Harron Communications sold the bulk of its cable operations to Adelphia Communications Corp. in 1999 for about $1.2 billion.

Nautic had invested about $38 million in Gans last year -- part of an $88 million recapitalization that included a $50 million bank facility. Gans used the money to pay off some debt and to fund an upgrade of its systems to between 750-megahertz and 860-MHz capacity.