Altice, the second largest communications company in France, confirmed plans to acquire Cablevision, the fifth largest cable operator in the United States. Under the agreement, Altice will pay $34.90 in cash for each Cablevision share, for an enterprise value of approximately $17.7 billion. The transaction is to be financed with $14.5 billion of new and existing debt. Altice has received full financing commitments from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Barclays.
Cablevision serves the New York City metropolitan area, passing more than 5 million premises and serving more than 3.1 million residential and business customers. With approximately 65% of its cable customers subscribing to triple-play services, Cablevision generates industry-leading ARPU and benefits from high customer loyalty. The deal also includes Lightpath, the company’s business services unit, as well as local news operations.
Earlier this year, Altice announced plans to acquire Suddenlink for $9 billion, a cable operator based in St. Louis with 1.4 million subscribers in 17 states. The combination of Cablevision + Suddenlink will make Altice the fourth largest cable operator in the U.S. with 4.6 million customers in 20 states.
“As a family business we are proud to be entrusted by the Dolan family with the ownership of Cablevision and look forward to continuing the pioneering path they have paved for us. The strategy of Altice in the large and highly strategic US market is reinforced with the acquisition of Cablevision. We will be in a stronger position, as in all other markets in which we operate, to deliver the best services, invest in the most advanced technology, and develop innovative products for the benefit of our customers,” stated Patrick Drahi, Founder and President of Altice.
- Cablevision was founded in the 1960s by Charles Dolan.
- In 2014, Altice acquire SFR from Vivendi, combining it with Numericable, which has over 5.2 million fiber homes in France, with more than 10 million homes passed. SFR has 3G/4G mobile networks in France as well as 1.6 million fiber homes.
- In June 2015, Altice acquired Portugal Telecom.