Sotheby’s has agreed to a takeover by the billionaire art collector Patrick Drahi, in a $3.7 billion (£2.9 billion) deal that restores the auction house to private ownership after three decades on the stock market.

The New York-based company, which celebrated its 275th anniversary this year, said it had accepted an offer from Drahi, a media and telecoms entrepreneur, that values it at 60% more than its closing share price on Wall Street last Friday.